The Catalan TableLadyfingers
Ladyfingers are soft and spongy sticks with a sweet touch, perfect for accompanying a cup of hot chocolate or coffee.
Yield: 30 items
Ingredients
Servings
30
Measurement units
Ingredients
- 63 gegg yolks
- 95 gegg whites
- bottled water
- 75 gcake flour (or pastry flour)
- 30 gpotato starch
- 40 + 50 gwhite sugar
- salt
- 11 gpowdered sugar
- 3 gcornstarch (can be Maizena)
Requirements
- 2 flat baking trays with low rims
- 1 piping bag
- 1 nozzle 1 cm Ø
Nutritional Information
Per items
Yield: 30 items
Calories
34 kcal
Protein
1 g
Fat
0.6 g
Carbohydrates
6.3 g
Calculated from reviewed ingredient weights and pinned USDA FoodData Central records.
Step-by-step Guide
Tips for Perfect Ladyfingers
- It is important to mix the all-purpose wheat flour with potato starch so that the batter becomes fluffier and lighter. This combination helps achieve spongy ladyfingers.
- It is important to beat the egg yolks with the sugar until they quadruple in volume. This can be achieved by beating for about 15 minutes with electric beaters, ensuring a creamy and airy consistency.
- It is important for the egg whites to reach the right texture, meaning they should hold stiff peaks without being overbeaten. This point is crucial for providing stability to the ladyfinger batter.
- It is Very Important to prevent the ladyfingers from deflating once removed from the oven by allowing the steam generated during baking to escape. Pastry chefs use the open draft of the oven. To mimic this at home, leave the oven door slightly ajar during baking, about a couple of fingers' width, and bake at a relatively high temperature, around 180°C.
Recommendations & Tricks
- Paolo Sacchetti’s version gives good results.
- Oven at 260 ºC for 6 minutes, door open a couple of fingers (otherwise they deflate). Lower temperatures do not work.
Original recipe
View or download the original PDF document.