History
The cookie table is a uniquely Pittsburgh wedding custom with Italian and Eastern European roots, in which extended families bake dozens upon dozens of cookies (pizzelle, lady locks, thumbprints, kolache) for a sprawling reception spread that often rivals the cake. The tradition is strongest in the Mon Valley mill towns and is documented as a regional signature; bakeries like Prantl's and Gaby et Jules supply cookies when families want backup.
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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg, Nuts
Make it at home
Ingredients
- Lady-lock cream-horn metal forms
- 500g flour
- 450g cold butter
- 250ml cold water
- 1 egg yolk
- For the filling: 250g butter, 200g shortening, 300g icing sugar, 1 jar marshmallow creme
Method
- Make a quick laminated dough by cutting cold butter into the flour, adding water and yolk, then folding and chilling several times.
- Roll thin and cut into long strips.
- Wind each strip around a metal lady-lock form, overlapping slightly.
- Bake at 200C (400F) for 12 to 15 minutes until golden, then slide off the forms and cool.
- Beat the butter, shortening, icing sugar and marshmallow creme into a fluffy filling.
- Pipe the filling into each cooled pastry horn and dust with icing sugar.
Tip from the editors. Keep the dough and butter cold throughout; warm dough loses the flaky lamination that makes lady locks.
Where to eat the pittsburgh cookie table
The Pittsburgh cookie table in Pittsburgh
Prantl's Bakery ★ 4.5
Prantl's Bakery on Walnut Street in Shadyside has baked its Burnt Almond Torte in Pittsburgh since 1970. The cake widely called America's best.
Worth the queueBurnt Almond Torte
Gaby et Jules ★ 4.5
Gaby et Jules on Forbes Avenue in Squirrel Hill bakes French macarons and caneles in Pittsburgh. Chef David Piquard's patisserie, named for his grandfathers.
Worth the queueMacarons
Enrico Biscotti Company ★ 4.3
Enrico Biscotti hand-shapes Italian biscotti and pastries in the Strip District in Pittsburgh. A bakery, cafe and brick-oven cooking-class spot in one.
TipDuck down the alley to the cafe for lunch. The hand-shaped biscotti are the signature.
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