Hour Glass Lady fingers Recipe Easy Biscuit

I wanted the Tiramisu dessert for our Christmas family dinner. Not the fake type. I have made the fake type before. It was delicious as can be. 

This Christmas I wanted to make it as authentic possible.

I needed ladyfingers biscuit if I want to make it authentic. I thought of buying ladyfingers biscuits from the supermarket but I changed my mind after seeing the weather. It has been raining heavily the last few days. There was even flooding in a few places and king tide stuck the coast in the north shores.

Apparently it is one of those really strange weather phenomena that happens every few years.

INGREDIENTS

3 large eggs

110g caster sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

140g Flour

1/4 tsp salt (optional)

Icing sugar for topping

METHOD

Separate the egg whites from the yolk

Using the mixer beat the egg until stiff peak

Without washing use same mixer to beat the egg yolks and sugar.

Do not forget to add salt and vanilla essence. I found adding just a teaspoon is not enough to remove the egg smell. I highly recommend a bit of lemon zest for those that do not like egg taste. However since these biscuit will be added to tiramisu then that requirement is not needed since the coffee flavor can easily camouflage the egg taste 

Beat the egg yolks until it turns light and creamy

Do not add all the egg white into the yolk mixture. First sift the flour then add a quarter of the egg white. Gently fold to incorporate as you add more egg white portion by portion. This method will help to keep the batter fluffy.

Another method is mixing the egg white into the egg yolk FIRST then adding the flour into the egg mixture. You can watch how I did that in this video

Transfer the batter to a pastry bag fitted with a 3/8” to 1/2" plain round tip or in my case I just pipe it without a tip. I am using a disposable pipping bag. I cut the size I want using a scissors. 

I found this way is easier because you can control the flow of the batter by clamping your fingers on the opening of the bag. 

My biscuit has this hour glass shape because of this finger clamping method. Looks really cool right? Next step is to dust the biscuit before you bake them. Dusting icing powder helps the cookie to rise higher and double in volume during baking.

Bake the biscuit in the oven at 170C for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep an eye out because they burn very easily. A little brown at the side and at the bottom is a sign that they are done baking. Take them out and dust another round of icing sugar.

These biscuit is not sweet so a little more icing sugar will not be a problem. Keep them in an air tight container in the fridge to maintain their freshness.