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Lady Fingers Recipe

This is the lady fingers recipe I like to use when I make tiramisu.

What are lady fingers?

Lady fingers - also commonly called ladyfingers - are oval shaped delicate cookies which have the consistency of sponge cake. Their name is due to their shape. Lady fingers make a nice tea cookies however, they are often used in other recipes such as charlottes, tiramisus and trifles.

If used in recipes, it is not uncommon to find them under others names:

Biscuits a la cuillere in France.

Sponge, sponge-fingers, trifle sponges or boudoir in England.

Savoiardi in Italy.

Etc.

Lady fingers are easy to make. Try this recipe and then come back and leave your review...other tea party aficionados will thank you!

Lady Fingers Recipe - Comments and reviews.

Recipe for Ladyfingers: Ingredients

3/4 cup plus 2 TB. of flour

4 egg yolks

1/2 cup of sugar - divided

4 egg whites

1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract - optional. You may also use lemon, orange flavor or rum.

Powdered sugar - optional

Ladyfingers Recipe: Method

In a large bowl and with a hand mixer - or a stand mixer - beat the egg yolks and 2 tablespoons of sugar on high speed until the egg/sugar mixture is thick and pale yellow in color. Add the vanilla and combine well.

Sift the flour over this mixture BUT DO NOT COMBINE.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites and the cream of tartar until soft peaks start to form. Add the remaining sugar a tablespoon at a time. When the whites form stiff peaks and they are glossy fold them gently into the egg yolk and flour mixture until well combined.

Grease a cookie sheet or line it with wax paper.

The traditional method to form your lady fingers would be to place the batter into a pastry bag and to pipe the batter onto the cookie sheet leaving about a 1 inch of space between the cookies.

My method is to just use a soup spoon and to drop some batter into a line on the cookie sheet leaving one inch in between each cookie. It is a faster method and in my opinion, the cookies come out just fine albeit probably not as uniform as if I piped them.

Whichever method you choose is fine.

If you choose to use powdered sugar, place some sugar in a sifter - or a wire strainer - and lightly sift the sugar over the tops of your lady fingers.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes. Once baked your lady fingers should be golden and a tad spongy when pressed with your finger.

Let the lady fingers cool for 5 minutes before removing them from the cookie sheet onto a cooling rack.

Note: Lady fingers can be frozen for up to 2 weeks.