The Ladyfingers are very light and crumbly biscuits, oblong, prepared with a dough in which the egg whites, mounted separately until stiff, make a remarkable lightness. During cooking, the air bubbles expand by inflating the cookies, which thus take on the typical foamy consistency.The “Biscotti di Savoia” saw the light in the late Middle Ages, and would have been created by the cook of the court of Amedeo VI, for a sumptuous lunch organized in honor of a visit of the French royal family. Later, thanks to its success in the memorable banquet, these embellished cookies as “Savoyards”, were adopted “officially” by the Royal House of Savoy becoming highly coveted goodies from the young heirs of the dynasty.A sixteenth-century recipe indicates the composition: “You do it with a little flour, eggwhite and sugar”.

“El biscotin” though he was originally from Piedmont, arrived in the influence areas of the Savoy. In France we find it mentioned in the Dumas Dictionary of Cuisine; in Sardinia he lost some of the eggs assuming a more flattened shape; in Sicily he gave up the egg whites becoming more toasted.

Also known by the name of the spoon Biscuits, the Ladyfingers are suitable for the production of sweet classics, such as zuppa inglese and soufflé, in the preparation of tiramisu (sweet much loved by the Count of Cavour), or are served with the bavarese, the vanilla and chocolate sauces, ice-creams and fruit salads.

INGREDIENTS FOR 4 PEOPLE

150 g sugar

100 grams of flour 00

4 eggs

50 grams of powdered sugar

salt

METHOD

Beat and Whip the egg yolks with 80 g of sugar until the mixture is soft and creamy.

Add a pinch of salt and flour, stirring well to mix everything.

Beat egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt and 20 g of powdered sugar, then gently add them to the mixture previously prepared with the egg yolks, stirring slowly not to dismantle them.

Grease and flour a baking sheet lightly.

Put the mixture of ladyfingers in a pastry bag with nozzle smooth and dose on the baking sheet sticks of dough about 10 cm long, well spaced to prevent, swelling in cooking, from sticking to one another.

 

Mix the granulated sugar and powdered sugar remained and cover the ladyfingers.

Let stand for 10 minutes, then repeat the operation.

Bake at 180 ° C for 15-20 minutes, until the cookies have assumed the classic golden color, remove from the oven, carefully remove them from the pan and let them cool on a rack.

Serve the biscuits with traditional eggnog cream, the classic combination of the aristocracy of the 800 Torino lounges.

If you seek the biscuits ready, perhaps to prepare a tiramisu, you find them here.