These are simply ladyfingers, best when homemade. If you plan to buy them, try to find an Italian or French bakery instead of using the spongy supermarket variety.
Savoiardi
- 4 large eggs (separated and at room temperature)
- 3 cups (375 g) cake flour or all-purpose flour, sifted 3 times
- 1 cup sugar
- Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).
- Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
- Beat the egg whites until softly peaked, then beat in the sugar until the mixture makes a stiff meringue.
- In a separate bowl, beat the egg yolks until they are thick and light.
- Fold 1/3 of the egg white mixture into the egg yolks.
- Sift the flour over this mixture and fold it in, then fold in the remaining egg whites.
- Spoon the batter in strips about 1 x 3 inches (2.5 x 7.5 cm) onto the prepared baking sheets or, using a pastry bag with a plain ½ inch (1.3 cm) tip, pipe the batter onto the baking sheets.
- Bake 5 to 7 minutes, until the cookies are lightly colored.
- Allow them to cool before removing them from the paper.
Hi Michele! Savoiardi are more difficult than it seems to make. I do make them myself sometimes and I admit the first times they were…., just as you said, like bricks! One of the issues with making savoiardi from scratch is you need to be very careful when you fold the ingredients in the egg whites: if you do it too much, or too energetically, you “smonti i bianchi”, that is, you end up “flattening” the egg whites back. This will result in a hard cookie. It is a problem one can have also with some type of sponge cakes. There is another thing: to be fluffly as we like them, savoiardi need air in their batter, which we need to incorporate while we fold the ingredient together…
Make also sure you add the flour little by little!
So, to sum it all up: when you have to fold the ingredients into the beaten egg whites, don’t stir, but very slowly fold them in with a spatula, using a “bottom to top” movement. It’ll take more time, but by doing so you will a)incorporate the air needed and b) keep those egg whites nice and fluffy.
Make also sure the oven is not too hot, as that could cause issues, too.
In case that doesn’t work, you may try to reduce the amount of flour.
Let us know how it works out! 🙂
I tried this recipe and they came out like bricks. I followed the recipe to the T and I do t know what happened. I come from Brooklyn and am in search of the perfect Savoiardi. Help?