Savoiardi recipe

Savoiardi recipe

This article was published by: Matthew

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♼ Recipe origin is unknown. Savoiardi recipe, recipe Rating: 4.7
Number of votes:84 

Ingredients

3 medium	eggs, separated
6 tbsp	granulated sugar
6 tbsp	plain flour
6 tbsp	cornflour
6 tbsp	icing sugar
	icing or caster sugar, for decoration when baked

Instructions

The number produced will depend upon the size of nozzle used and length that is piped.

Preheat oven to Gas Mark 4, 180°C, 350°F.

Butter 2 baking sheets and line with parchment.

In a clean bowl, whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Gradually add the granulated sugar until stiff peaks appear. The mixture should be glossy and quite smooth.

In a small bowl lightly beat the yolks and fold into whites. Sift the flours onto the mixture and gently fold in.

To pipe:
Fit a piping bag with a large plain nozzle and fill with as much batter as possible. You can refill when able or if necessary.

Pipe out fingers approximately 5-inches long and ¾-inch, 12cm x 18-20mm approximately, wide, or longer or shorter as wished. Allow about 1-2 inches, 2-5cm between them.

Sprinkle about half the icing sugar over the tops of the fingers. Leave for 5-7 minutes to absorb and sprinkle the remainder of the sugar over the tops again.

Bake for 10 minutes then rotate the trays front-to-back and bake for about 5 minutes longer or until evenly coloured and light golden brown.

Remove from baking sheet with a metal spatula when hot and transfer to a wire rack. Top with more icing or caster sugar whilst still hot.

Use with charlottes, tiramisu etc, or as a biscuit.

About this recipe:
The hand-written recipe literally fell from an almost 60-year-old cookery book now falling to pieces, and used as a book mark, when looking for an obscure recipe I had not eaten in years and which was mentioned in an article found on-line.

An uncle and professional baker used to make these at home occasionally, using a large sheet of greaseproof paper rolled into a temporary piping bag. As a child it was fascinating to watch him do it as it looked so quick and easy. As an adult, some years later I tried the technique, not with this, and got the mixture everywhere but where it was intended to be.

Professionally, he used a similar recipe to bake a cookie in 3 forms; this, a much broader variety about 2 or 3 times the width but no thicker, and as thin rounds about 2½ inches, 6cm in diameter. The last were sold as a ‘rusk’ for babies and younger children, but the other two were not sold as is but used to create ‘gateaux’ that were sold. There was often a small surplus of each cookie which he would bring home for his young son, my cousin, and my family to share, together with a selection of others that they made. Rarely, he would bring home one of the gateaux. They were delicious.

Preparation time:
ca. 20 min
Resting time:
ca. 1 hr
Grade of difficulty:
medium
Calories per portion:
n/a