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Lady Fingers
Whites 3 eggs 1/3 cup flour 1/3 cup powdered sugar 1/8 teaspoon salt Yolks 2 eggs 1/4 teaspoon vanilla Beat whites of eggs until stiff and dry, add sugar gradually, and continue beating. Then add yolks of eggs beaten until thick and lemon-colored, and flavoring. Cut and fold in flour mixed and sifted with salt. Shape four and one-half inches long and one inch wide on a tin sheet covered with unbuttered paper, using a pastry bag and tube. Sprinkle with powdered sugar, and bake eight minutes in a moderate oven. Remove from paper with a knife. Lady Fingers are much used for lining moulds that are to be filled with whipped cream mixtures. They are often served with frozen desserts, and sometimes put together in pairs with a thin coating of whipped cream between, when they are attractive for children's parties.
Almond Tart 4 eggs 1/2 cup Jordan almonds, blanched and finely chopped 1 cup powdered sugar 1/3 cup grated chocolate 1 teaspoon baking powder 3/4 cup cracker dust Beat yolks of eggs until thick and lemon-colored; add sugar gradually, then fold in white of eggs beaten until stiff and dry. Add chocolate, almonds, baking powder, and cracker dust. Bake in a round pan. Cool, split, and put whipped cream, sweetened and flavored, between and on top. Garnish with angelica and candied cherries. This makes a most attractive dessert when baked in individual tins. As soon as cool, remove centres, and fill with whipped cream, forced through a pastry bag.
A classic sponge-batter piped biscuit. The batter is leavened entirely by beaten egg, so speed between folding and baking matters more than anything else here.
- Oven temperature"Moderate" in books of this period is usually taken as somewhere around 350-375F. Eight minutes is right for fingers this size; look for pale gold edges and a dry surface rather than colour all over.
- Unbuttered paperThe original specifies unbuttered paper, though it does not say why; greased sheets are generally held to let the batter spread. Parchment is the modern equivalent and needs no fat; lift the fingers off with a thin knife or offset spatula while still warm.
- Fold, do not stirThe flour goes in by cutting and folding after the yolks. Overworking deflates the foam and gives you flat, tough fingers rather than the light, slightly crisp shell that holds a mould together.
- PipingA plain round tube of roughly 1/2 inch will give something near the 1 inch width called for once the batter relaxes. Pipe with steady pressure and stop cleanly; the recipe's four and a half inches suits the mould-lining use it describes.
- Powdered sugarConfectioners' sugar today contains cornstarch, which is fine both in the batter and for the dusting. The dusting called for on top gives the sugary surface crust associated with these biscuits.
- YieldThe recipe gives no yield; a batter this size will run to well under two dozen fingers of the stated dimensions, enough to line a mould of modest size.
- StorageThey soften quickly in humid air. Cool completely and keep airtight, or leave them uncovered overnight on purpose if you want them dry enough to soak in a trifle.
Lady fingers are the English name for the piped sponge biscuit the French call biscuit à la cuillère, the name reflecting the spoon used to shape them. The note about lining moulds explains why a household cook would keep them on hand: a charlotte russe, a common company dessert of the period, is built from a wall of these biscuits filled with whipped cream. The suggestion of pairing them with cream for children's parties points to the same economy that runs through such books, where one batter is expected to serve several purposes.