Savoiardi or lady fingers are those long slender cookies that are used to make the ultimate Italian dessert tiramisu , trifles , Charlottes and for lining gateaux.
The story goes as such : these biscuits were first created in the kitchens of the Duke of Savoy to honour a visit from the King of France back in the Middle ages . Later they gained popularity and was considered the “official” court biscuit of Savoy! Hence the name Savoiardi! I think they are also called sponge fingers in some parts of the world.
These are simple, sweet biscuits – almost sponge cakes in cookie form. Pretty dry by themselves , they are soaked in some kind of liquor, syrup or coffee before using.
The traditional lady finger biscuits are made with egg whites and yolks , and usually with no leavening. I have made these before and tweaked recipes until i found the simplest version I could. My baking pet peeve is recipes that use an unequal number of yolks and eggs (annoy me to no end!). This particular one uses two eggs or 4 eggs (bigger batch) separated , with some sugar and flour.
Easy lady fingers from scratch !
Preheat your oven to 180 C / 350 F . Line your cookie sheet with parchment paper.
Separate your eggs into whites and yolks. Rest at room temperature.
Using a whisk or fork, lightly beat the yolk. Keep aside.
Beat the egg whites until frothy .
Add the sugar and beat at medium high until firm peaks are formed.
Add the beaten yolk , a little bit at a time (about 1/2 -1 tsp) and keep beating.
Sift in the flour and fold gently .
Fill the batter into a piping bag with a wide (1/2 inch) tip attached or snip of the end of the bag.
Pipe 2-3 inch lines , keeping about 2 inches space between each line.
Dust with some icing sugar . Bake at 180 C/ 350 F for 15-18 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.
Cool on pan and then lift off using spatula. Store in an airtight container immediately.
This is a small recipe , can be easily doubled or tripled for 40 and 60 cookies. You will probably need a double recipe for a medium sized Tiramisu and a triple for a larger one.
If you have a small oven or small baking sheets , you can bake in shifts. The batter holds up fine.
Stored in an airtight container, they can be kept for 10 days or longer.
You know your egg whites are whipped enough when you lift the beaters and the peaks stay upright. If you turn over the bowl, the whipped whites wont move.
I get a lot of requests for eggless options for bakes and I tried my hand at eggless lady fingers this time .This recipe is borrowed and adapted from here . To replace the egg here , there is some milk and some baking powder to make do for the leavening. They do rise well and soft!
Dust with some icing sugar . Bake at 180 C/ 350 F for 18-20 minutes until lightly brown around the edges.
The recipe can de doubled.
The fingers can be stored in an airtight container for upto 6-7 days.
Now to be fair, savoiradi is traditionally made with eggs , so the original version look lovely , are airy light and soak up the dunking syrups really well. The egg free ones didnt brown as much as I’d like and were not as light. But having said that , they are tasty and once you soak them , they work just as well!
Hey Ambika.. you can do that.. keep an eye on it , bakes up very quick.you could also just pipe close so when they bake, they join. But a sheet pan works fine too ! Based on the passage above, How were Savoiardi biscuits created and why are they named after the Savoy region?
This prompt doesn't seem malicious.