Ladyfingers

Everyone has at least one special treat from childhood that you wish you could recapture. Maybe it is too far, the recipe isn't right or maybe the establishment is closed. For me that special treat is "Ladyfingers".  And not the kind of ladyfingers you find in tiramisu.  Growing up, when we visited my Grammy and Papa we would often go to the local donut shop Dixie Cream, they made these AMAAAAZINGLY unique donuts called Ladyfingers. They were long circular donuts, crisp on the outside and very light on the inside, covered in powdered sugar with amazing and the most incredible cream filling you have every tasted. They closed several years ago and since then our entire family has missed enjoying them. I have been on a mission the last 7-8 years to perfect the recipe.  I searched for who knows how long online, asked as many people as I could and still came up short in re-creating this memorable delight.

Finally, after years of experimenting I was pretty sure I had created a recipe that would work. Gave it a try and...

Below is the recipe and pictures! :)

Kristin's LadyFingers:

1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 envelope active dry yeast

2 eggs, slightly beaten

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup evaporated milk (8oz)

7 cups bread flour (not all purpose)

1/4 cup shortening

1. First take the lukewarm water and sugar and sprinkle the yeast over it in order to activate the yeast.  Let that sit for about 10 minutes.

2. Separately mix the beaten eggs, salt and evaporated milk together. Then (after the yeast has rested 10min) Mix egg mixture to the yeast mixture.

3. The next step is very important.  I weigh the bread flour in order to be sure I have the exact right amount, too little or too much and the dough is not right. Bread flour weights 4 3/4 oz per cup.  So I would weigh one cup, zero the scale and weigh another.  After three cups add it to the yeast mixture and stir.  Then add the shortening. Next in the same method measure out the remaining 4 cups of bread flour and stir it into your dough.

4. Take the dough and place it onto a lightly floured surface and knead it several times until smooth.  Place dough in a large bowl coated with non-stick spray, cover with towel or plastic wrap.  Now we want it to rise and double in size.  My method for this is to turn the oven on preheat to 350 for 2 minutes. Turn it off, then place the bowl inside and let it rest for at least 2 hours.

 (my dough before rolling out)

5.  Now we get ready to fry these little ladies up! Set up your station how you want because you will need to move quick once you start frying. Preheat your oil to 350 degrees F.  This is important. So use a candy thermometer to keep an eye on the temperature. Get out your powdered sugar - just throw some in a big ziplock bag, measuring it out perfect isn't necessary. Have an area to set your ladyfingers to rest slightly on a paper towel and next to that have your powdered sugar bag.

6. Roll out the dough to around 1/4 inch thick.  Take a pizza cutter and slice out about an inch thick and roll them into the shape that you would like

7. Drop those suckers into the oil, they cook up quick.  I used my largest heavy bottom pot, and it comfortable fried about 3-4 at a time. You want them to be nice and golden.  I let mine drain on a paper towel for several minutes and then put them into the powdered sugar. Give 'em a good toss.

For the filling I used this recipe:

2 C Powdered sugar

Half stick room temp butter

2T Shortening

1/2 t Vanilla

and poured half n half until it reached the consistency I wanted.  It has to be thin enough to easily pipe into the doughnuts yet, not runny.

And voilà!