ingredients

Yolks (about 5)

80-90 gr

Album

80 gr

Flour 00

70 gr

Caster sugar

60 gr

Powdered sugar

q.b.

Lemon juice

q.b.

Ladyfingers are spongy and light biscuits , typical of Italian pastry . With a golden crust and a consistency reminiscent of the classic sponge cake , they take their name from the royal house of Savoy and due to their characteristic elongated shape they are also known as “finger lady “ . Simple and delicious, homemade ladyfingers are born to be soaked and are perfect for breakfast , dipped in milky coffee or in a cup of tea. With these , one of the most famous and loved puddings is made , tiramisu , but also charlotte , trifleand the pumpkin . Find out how to make them by following our recipe step by step.

How to prepare ladyfingers

Step 1

Sift the flour a couple of times1and keep it aside.

Step 2

Collect the egg yolks and granulated sugar in a large bowl2, then whip with electric whisk until the mixture is clear, frothy and quadrupled in volume.

Step 3

On the side, whip the egg whites with a few drops of lemon juice at maximum speed, until you have a shiny and very firm mass3.

Step 4

Add the egg whites to the yolks in two tranches, mixing delicately with a spatula and with movements from the bottom up4.

Step 5

Finally, incorporate the flour, in two or three times, always with slow movements to avoid disassembling the mixture5.

Step 6

Transfer the dough into a pastry bag, cut off the tip (or use a smooth nozzle) and form 8-10 cm long sticks on a baking tray lined with a sheet of parchment paper6.

Step 7

Sprinkle the biscuits with plenty of icing sugar7.

Step 8

Bake in a preheated static oven at 200°C for 8 minutes, monitoring the level of browning; open the door slightly and continue for another 1-2 minutes. Baked8and let it cool down.

Step 9

Gently remove the ladyfingers with the blade of a knife or spatula, then serve9or use them for your preparations.

Advice

With the doses indicated in the recipe you will get 20-25 ladyfingers biscuits .

The trick to obtaining soft and spongy ladyfingers is to beat the egg whites very well (the mixture must be stable and firm) and incorporate the yolks with a spatula, mixing delicately and with movements from the bottom up.

If you want even smoother and silkier biscuits, add 50 g of 00 flour and 20 g of starch.

Sprinkle the ladyfingers with a little icing sugar before baking them: it will give them an irresistible golden crust on the surface and in this way they will keep longer.

With the same dough, once collected in the sac à poche, you can also make disks (or small spirals) and thus obtain biscuits with different shapes.

Be careful to space the ladyfingers apart from each other in the pan, so as to prevent them from sticking to each other : the dough will tend to swell during cooking. If they expand too much, lower the oven temperature slightly.

You can also add 1 teaspoon of cocoa powder to the dough: you will get chocolate ladyfingers , perfect for dipping in coffee or in a delicious crème anglaise .

storage

The ladyfingers can be stored at room temperature in a tin box: they will keep fragrant and perfect for at least 1-2 weeks .