For afternoon tea, some people prefer to eat gateaux or a pastry. Personally, one of my favorite pastries for the occasion is Ladyfingers. These springy, bite-sized biscuits go down well, especially when accompanied with a dessert sauce that can serve either as a filling or a dip depending on taste. Today, we will be looking at how to make Ladyfingers and the accompaniment of choice, a Chocolate sauce/Ganache for dipping in this latest recipe.
What are Ladyfingers?
Ladyfingers are biscuits that originated in 15th century France. However, what's surprising about these biscuits is the fact that they are actually a variation of sponge cake.
Like most sponge cakes, these consists of a cake batter that is leavened with whipped egg whites. Of course, unlike spongecakes, they are piped out to be baked into small biscuits as opposed to large rounded/squared cakes. Hence, Ladyfingers are sponge biscuits; springy to the touch and bite-sized treats ideal for afternoon tea or as a little snack.
What about Ganache?
I've already covered what a Ganache is right here. For the short version, this is basically a chocolate sauce that has a multitude of uses in baking. Ganache is easy to make as it consists of equal parts melted chocolate and heavy cream. For this recipe, we will primarily use it as a dip for our Ladyfingers.
Ladyfingers and Ganache recipe
Ladyfingers Ingredients:
- 12 oz flour
- 13 oz granulated sugar
- 13 oz egg whites
- 10 oz egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- powdered sugar as needed
Ganache Ingredients:
- 8 oz semi-sweet dark chocolate
- 8 oz heavy cream
- 1/2 oz unsalted butter
- 1/2 tsp of salt
Directions:
- To make the Ladyfingers, separate the egg yolks from the egg whites in two bowls and divide the sugar evenly among them. Sift the flour and set aside.
- Using a hand mixer or stand mixer, whip the egg yolks with the sugar in the bowl until smooth and until it forms ribbons. This is your sabayon.
- Next, whip the egg whites on medium speed until smooth and until they form soft peaks. Gradually add the sugar while whipping the whites, then whip on high speed until opaque white with stiff peaks. Don't overwhip. This is your meringue.
- Whip the flour into the sabayon until fully incorporated. Fold a small portion of the sabayon into the meringue until fully incorporated. Repeat with the remaining sabayon to complete the batter.
- Place the batter in a piping bag and pipe out 3 x 1" biscuits at 1" apart from one another on a baking tray lined with parchment. Dust the tops of the Ladyfingers with the powdered sugar and bake at 180º C for approximately 15 minutes or until firm and puffy. Repeat on another baking tray for the leftover batter.
- To make the ganache, chop the chocolate and place in a bowl with the salt. Set aside. Pour the heavy cream in a deep bottom pan and bring to a boil.
- Whisk a portion of the heated cream into the chocolate and salt. Keep whisking until the chocolate and salt fully dissolve and are incorporated into the cream. Repeat with the remaining cream.
- Whisk in the butter until fully incorporated to finish the ganache. Place in a bowl for dipping.
- Serve Ladyfingers with ganache.
