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Savoys, Dry
Whisk the whites of fifteen eggs to a firm froth, and sprinkle a pound of powdered sugar into this with the left hand, at the same time beating it lightly with the right. Add eight ounces of dried flour, and flavour the preparation with grated lemon-rind or orange-flower water. Pour the mixture into a shallow paper case, and bake in a moderate oven. When done enough, let the biscuit cool, and with a sharp knife cut it into thin slices. Dry these in a screen or in a cool oven till they are lightly browned, then put them aside till wanted. Time to bake, about half an hour. Probable cost, 3s.
A whites-only sponge, baked in a sheet, sliced and dried again — closer to a rusk or biscotti than to a soft ladyfinger. Two things decide the result: how gently the sugar goes in, and how low the second bake is.
- The hinge: folding, not beatingFifteen whites whipped firm will collapse if the sugar is dumped in. The original's business of sprinkling with one hand while working with the other is a description of slow incorporation; add the sugar in a steady rain, then fold the flour in a third at a time with a spatula until no dry streaks remain.
- Fifteen egg whitesAbout 450–500 ml, or roughly 2 cups, from large eggs. Scaled to a third — five whites, 5 oz sugar, 2½ oz flour — the recipe behaves the same and fits a domestic mixer bowl.
- "Powdered sugar"In Victorian usage this means granulated sugar ground fine, not modern confectioners' sugar, which contains cornstarch. Caster or superfine sugar is the right substitute.
- "Dried flour"Flour spread on a tray and warmed in a low oven to drive off moisture, then sieved and cooled before use. It was a real precaution in damp larders; with modern packaged flour, sifting it twice is enough.
- Oven temperaturesA moderate oven is usually reckoned at around 350°F (175°C), give or take, for the half-hour first bake. The second drying wants a genuinely cool oven — 200–225°F (95–110°C) with the door propped slightly — for 30 to 60 minutes, until the slices are crisp through and barely coloured.
- The paper caseA shallow rectangular tin lined with parchment, the paper standing above the rim, does the same job. About a 9 x 13 in tin for the full quantity; the batter should sit no more than an inch deep or the centre will not dry.
- CuttingLet the sheet cool completely, then cut with a long serrated knife in a sawing motion. A warm sponge tears, and the slices should be about a quarter-inch thick so they dry evenly.
- FlavouringOrange-flower water is still sold in Middle Eastern groceries and is potent; a teaspoon or so for the full batch. Grated lemon rind should be zest only, with none of the white pith.
- Yield and keepingThe full quantity gives several dozen slices. Once properly dry they keep for weeks in a tin — the point of the second baking — and are meant for serving with wine, tea, ices or a cream.
Savoy biscuits take their name from the Duchy of Savoy, and the sponge is traditionally traced to its ducal court in the fourteenth century, though the story is repeated far more often than it is documented. By the nineteenth century "Savoy biscuit" in England meant the finger-shaped sponge sold for trifles and charlottes, what a French kitchen called biscuit à la cuillère and later cooks called a ladyfinger. This version is a household economy on the same idea: bake the batter as one sheet rather than piping dozens of fingers, then slice and dry it a second time, which is exactly the logic of rusk, zwieback and biscotti. Twice-baked meant shelf-stable, and a tin of dry Savoys was the standing answer in a Victorian house to unexpected callers, an invalid's tray, or a dish of ice cream that wanted something crisp beside it. The recipe gives its probable cost as 3s. for fifteen eggs and a pound of sugar.