About the Recipe
Ladyfingers (or Sponge Fingers in the UK), known by the Italian name Savoiardi, the French name boudoirs… are a principal ingredient in many desserts around the world, Trifles in the UK, Tiramisu in Italia, Charlottes in France
Ingredients
140g (1/2 cup) Aquafaba
1 pinch of salt
85g (1/2 cup) Caster Sugar
40g (1/8 cup) Neutral Oil
100g (3/4 cup) All-purpose flour
25g (1/4 cup) Cornstarch
1 tsp Baking powder
Preparation
Preheat the oven to 150°C/300°F (fan) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Alternatively, if you have silicone ladyfinger molds, place them on the baking trays.
COMBINE YOUR DRY INGREDIENTS
I don’t often use a sieve when baking. Usually it’s not necessary, but this recipe is different. Not only does it remove lumps of baking powder or flour from your mixture, but it also helps to mix together your ingredients nicely. Please don’t skip this step.
Sieve together your flour, cornstarch and baking powder, then set them aside for later.
WHIP YOUR AQUAFABA
Aquafaba: the water in which legume seed such as chickpeas have been cooked, can be found in a can of chickpeas (go and download my FREE PDF if you want to know more about it). I usually reduce it, but today it’s not necessary. It’s going to act like whipped egg whites in this recipe which will help to put some microscopic air bubbles in our batter which gives everything lightness and lift.
The key to great aquafaba “meringue” is to use a stand mixer or a hand mixer with a SPOTLESSLY clean bowl. You can even rub a wedge of lemon around the bowl and over the whisk attachment because the acidity dissolves any small grease particles which will stop the aquafaba reaching its full potential.
You’re then going to start whisking your aquafaba and your salt together until it’s light and fluffy (about 3 to 5 minutes).
Then add your sugar one table spoon at a time, gradually.
When it’s glossy add the oil and whisk for one more minute.
FOLD IN FLOUR MIXTURE
Once we’ve got a glossy and fluffy aquafaba meringue, we’re going to fold in our flour mixture. Fold it in gently, but don’t stress about it, it don’t make a big difference.
Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the flour mixture until it just combined and no lumps remain.
Set aside on the counter to rest for 10 minutes.
Transfer the batter to a piping bag with a round nozzle and pipe the mixture into thick lines around 6-8 cm long on the lined baking trays (or directly into the silicone ladyfinger molds).
This recipe makes around 20 to 25 ladyfingers and I’d advise splitting them between two separate baking trays
Before baking, dust the tops of the biscuits with icing sugar.
Place in the oven for 15 to 20 minutes
Remove from the oven, and leave to cool completely.
