Dough*
1 cup flour
1 cup water
1/2 cup butter
3 eggs
A little salt

For decoration
Powdered sugar

*Makes 12 bigne

"Boil the water and melt the butter in it. Salt it, add the flour and let it cook a little while. Cool and add the beaten eggs. Form this into 12 bigne (little cakes or cookies) and bake them in the oven. When they are baked split them open and fill with a custard flavored with vanilla and sprinkle them with powdered sugar."

This recipe was taken from "Practical Italian Recipes, sold for the Benefit of Italian War Orphans," by Julia Lovejoy Cuniberti. It was published in Washington, D.C. in 1918. For the entire copyright-free cookbook see www.archive.org.... P.S. I tried this recipe and found the result very satisfying. The pastry dough is soft but firm enough to incorporate a pastry stuffing. I baked the bigne in a greased muffin pan first for 10 minutes in a 400 F degree oven and then turned it down to 350 F degrees and continued baking for another 35 minutes. The batter surprisingly, or not so surprisingly considering the amount of eggs involved, tripled in volume and produced a light-tasting pastry. Photo and notes: Mary Melfi.

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