Savoiardi (Lady Fingers) is also known as sponge fingers in Britain. They are low-density, dry flaky biscuits roughly shaped like a lady’s fingers, hence the name. They are traditionally made with eggs and are like fat ladies. In the eggless or egg-free versions, it is challenging to hold shape so that every batch may turn perfect or wonky. Still, they definitely taste great so there is never a wastage and they get used in various desserts like Charlotte cake, traditional eggless tiramisu, or even a trifle.
They are simple to make with a few essential pantry ingredients and come together quickly. You can even bake them in advance and store them in air-tight containers for later use.
The characteristic feature of ladyfingers biscuits is the absorption of coffee syrup or alcohol used to soak the layers of tiramisu. A good savoiardi should be able to soak and still maintain shape to give a great dessert when cut through.
Easy recipe to make, with phenomenal use in various desserts, makes these finicky ladies all the fun! Eggless Ladyfingers are always a great way to assemble a great dessert for a party or a late-night snack.
- The Savoiardi recipe makes about 36 long biscuits (3″ long & 3/4″ wide). I made them 3 days prior to final assembly – i.e. 1 week prior to the serving.
- You can use replace almonds with other nuts if you want.
- The eggless ladyfingers do not have the soft cake-like texture of regular lady fingers biscuits and are more like nutty shortbread.
- They keep refrigerated for quite a bit in an airtight box.
- Do not dip the ladyfinger/ savoiardi into the coffee solution for more than ONE second, or they might become very fragile & disintegrate. Extra soaking is likely to spoil the end product, making it soggy.
- The eggless biscuits soften up really well if served at least 36 hours after assembling the tiramisu.
Eggless Savoiardi (Ladyfingers)
Ingredients
- 4 tbsp sugar granulated
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1½ cups unsalted butter softened
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- ½ cup almonds coarsely ground
- powdered sugar for dusting
Instructions
- Preheat the oven at 150 C (300 F).
- Blend all the ingredients well, add the coarsely ground nuts last.
- Scrape the batter into a piping bag with 3/4″ plain tip (I made piping bag using milk polybags & cut the tip to 3/4″) and pipe into fingers about 3″ long at 1″ intervals onto an un-greased cookie sheet.
- Bake them for 30-45 mins till they start turning slightly brown at the edges.
- When done, remove from oven & cool on a tray for about 5 minutes and then move the biscuits to a cooling rack.
- When slightly cool, roll them in powdered sugar.
- Store in an air tight container till required. I stored uptil 1 week in refrigerator.
Notes
- The Savoiardi recipe makes about 36 long biscuits (3″ long & 3/4″ wide). I made them 3 days prior to final assembly – i.e. 1 week prior to the serving.
- You can use replace almonds with other nuts if you want.
- The eggless ladyfingers do not have the soft cake-like texture of regular lady fingers biscuits and are more like nutty shortbread.
- They keep refrigerated for quite a bit in an airtight box.
- Do not dip the ladyfinger/ savoiardi into the coffee solution for more than ONE second, or they might become very fragile & disintegrate. Extra soaking is likely to spoil the end product, making it soggy.
- The eggless biscuits soften up really well if served at least 36 hours after assembling the tiramisu.
