Run out of stock or fascinated to taste what’s lost through the years? Check out this Ladyfingers recipe that’s alone capable to be a cake!
Ladyfingers, also known some English parts of the world as sponge fingers, are sponge cakes made to look like large, elongated fingers.
Similarly, to traditional sponge cakes, ladyfingers don’t require any chemical leavening agent and rely solely on the air entrapped by eggs for their spongy texture.
Nowadays, we mostly find ladyfingers in prepackaged desiccated mass produced form, hence it may be hard to imagine it as anything else, but its history reaches back to several hundreds of years.
Of course, back then, there weren’t many machines involved in its making, let alone packaging, yet it managed to reach heights it was reserved for only a few.
Sure, cakes weren’t for the poor in the 15th century so any cake, that was created, was consumed by the privileged only, but still being recognized as an “official” court biscuit at the Duchy of Savoy is no small feat.
Its Italian name, the “Savoiardi”, still refers to the dessert’s French roots from the Savoy region, despite the French call it “Boudoirs” which is also the name for the women’s private bedroom.
Somewhat disappointing that a once prominent dessert that we chose to represent the region cuisine and given to quests is now reduced to be a part of another desserts.
Naturally, no one would complain to have Tiramisu or trifle, or charlotte served for them but that still feels sidelining something that once has seen better days.
Of course, the dried out sugar soaked and coated lady fingers are far from the glory of freshly baked bars of mini cakes, but luckily, we aren’t really forced to rely only on what the shops have for us to offer.
Making our own ladyfingers is as easy as making our own sponge cake. If we lack the proper equipment or just couldn’t bother messing around with piping bags and tips, using a single spoon to pull out the lady finger lines is all we need.
Once we have made our tasty little pieces of cakes, we can decide if their demise in popularity was a timely affair or we should rue the days we lived without such a cake. If we want to live our life sugar free, yet don’t want to use the perks of having trifle or tiramisu cakes, making ladyfingers at home will be the center of our days.
Ingredients
- 6 medium / 300g Eggs
- 4 tablespoons / 60g Honey or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon / 5g Salt
- 2 cups / 250g Flour (or a bit less)
- 2 tablespoons / 16g Corn starch
How to make Ladyfingers
- Separate eggs. Once the eggs are aired up, every second is a second flatter cake so giddy up and make sure the oven is heating up.
- Whisk the egg yolks, honey or sweetener of choice and salt until fluffy and pale yellow.
- Clean whisks and bowl then whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. At this stage the egg white shouldn’t fall out of the bowl when turned upside down.
- Gently fold egg whites into the yolk in batches.
- Sift and fold the flour in batches into the already folded yolk and egg white.
- This must be done sifting the flour in batches.
- Otherwise the big flour lumps will destroy the fluffiness of the eggs. We need those holes for fluffiness.
- Fill the batter into a pastry bag then pull the lady fingers out. Alternatively if we don’t mind a some unevenness, we can use a wet spoon to pull the batter out.
- Sprinkle corn starch evenly on top. Many recipes call for powdered sugar to be sprinkled on top but corn starch works better and we are sugar free anyway.
- Place the ladyfingers into the middle rack of a 375°F/190°C preheated oven until golden brown spots start to appear on top, about 13 – 15 minutes. Brush off the corn starch and the ladyfingers are ready.
Enjoy!
Ladyfingers Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 medium Eggs
- 4 tablespoons Honey or sweetener of choice
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 2 cups Flour or a bit less
- 2 tablespoons Corn starch
Instructions
- Separate eggs. Once the eggs are aired up, every second is a second flatter cake so giddy up and make sure the oven is heating up.
- Whisk the egg yolks, honey or sweetener of choice and salt until fluffy and pale yellow.
- Clean whisks and bowl then whip egg whites until stiff peaks form. At this stage the egg white shouldn’t fall out of the bowl when turned upside down.
- Gently fold egg whites into the yolk in batches.
- Sift and fold the flour in batches into the already folded yolk and egg white.
- This must be done sifting the flour in batches.
- Otherwise the big flour lumps will destroy the fluffiness of the eggs. We need those holes for fluffiness.
- Fill the batter into a pastry bag then pull the lady fingers out. Alternatively if we don’t mind a some unevenness, we can use a wet spoon to pull the batter out.
- Sprinkle corn starch evenly on top. Many recipes call for powdered sugar to be sprinkled on top but corn starch works better and we are sugar free anyway.
- Place the ladyfingers into the middle rack of a 375°F/190°C preheated oven until golden brown spots start to appear on top, about 13 – 15 minutes. Brush off the corn starch and the ladyfingers are ready.
Notes
F.A.Q.
What are ladyfingers called in USA?
Ladyfingers, a finger shaped sponge cake from France, called Ladyfingers in the USA. It is also known as sponge fingers in Britain or babyfingers in Jewish communities.
What do ladyfingers taste like?
Ladyfingers are made from sponge cake batter and tastes exactly like sponge cake. It has a slightly different texture due to the exposed surface area but otherwise its a sweet egg based cake.
Are ladyfingers soft or crunchy?
Ladyfingers are soft when fresh from the oven just like sponge cake. Given enough time though, it dries out to a crunchy cookie like texture.
Is okra and ladyfinger same?
Depends of what we are talking about but yes. There is a plant called okra that is also called Lady’s finger. Neither of them are the dessert Ladyfingers, that is bite sized sponge cake.
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