Goomba38 wrote:
> Steve in Virginia wrote:
>
> > Does anyone know what I'm referring to? I'd love to get the recipe,
> > but all the old Italians are gone, and I don't recall if anyone ever
> > wrote the recipe down. I just remember that you had to beat the
> > daylight out of the batter in a stand mixer for something like an
> > hour!!! Any help would be greatly appreciated...and would probably get
> > you a batch of these delicious cookies to boot.
> >
>
> In my family they were called "cha-melles" or something sounding like
> that but spelled who knows how? You know how dialect varies. I never got
> a recipe either
> Much like a harder Stella D'Oro brand Regina or biscotti but with a hard
> shiny glaze on the top. My father loved to dunk 'em in coffee or wine.
>
> I can make strufoli easily.. but I'd love to find the recipe for those
> "chamelles".


I never heard them referred to as "chamelles" but it sounds exactly
like the cookies I was talking about. Yes, the tops were shiny and
sometimes developed a few fine cracks on the surface as the cookies
cooled. The old Italians in my house dunked in coffee and wine all
the time, too. When they got hard, my sister and I would place two or
three in a bowl, pour cold milk, or milk with a little sweetened coffee
over them and eat them for breakfast.

My sister and I have been trying to recreate the recipe. We've got the
taste down (though I think it needs a touch more almond extract), but
the consistancy to still a bit too soft, and the dough make flatter
cookie than the original rounded oval shape. But we're still working
on it.

I'll keep searching for a recipe and post a copy for you when I find
one.

Steve