Biscuits a la cuillere

[cookin4acravin]

I am planning on making ladyfingers for a charlotte and I'm using this recipe:

5 eggs, separated

150g caster sugar, plus one extra tbsp

150 flour

1. Mix the yolks with the extra tablesspon of sugar until fluffy.

2. Whip the whites to soft peaks, add sugar and continue whisking until firm.

3. Fold yolks into meringue.

4. Gently incorporate the flour.

5. Pipe. And bake for 10 minutes at 180C.

are there any certain things I need to watch for to make sure that it doesnt become hollow inside with a shell on the outside? What other things do I need to watch for?

[RichardJones]

Hello cookin4acravin,

Good luck with your Ladyfingers.

Here are a few points about biscuit à la cuillère which you may already know:

- Don't over whisk the egg whites. They should be firm but still a little supple.

- Fold really carefully! The egg yolks don't have to be completely mixed in at the point of adding the flower... this will help prevent overworking the batter.

- I would pipe onto baking paper. You can draw lines on the reverse side as a guide.

- Once piped sieve a fine dusting of icing sugar over the biscuits.

- After about 10 mins when that first layer is dissolving, sieve a second layer of icing sugar. This helps achieve the pearling effect (the tiny balls of sugar you get on decent b à c).

- I would recommend a hotter oven. We used 210C at college -- I've just checked in Hermé and he suggests 220C. This also helps with the pearling.

- Rather than baking for exactly 10mins keep monitoring progress. Once they start to colour ever so lightly around the edge is normally T. You can check that the biscuits are coming cleanly off the paper.

- For the perfectionist, cook until the sugar pearls and then open the vents in the oven. This evacuates the steam. You can achieve a similar effect on a domestic oven by holding the door open a crack with a wooden spoon handle. Depends on your oven though.

Hope this helps,

Let us know how you get on,

Richard

[cookin4acravin]

I just made my charlotte and it turned out fine but I need to work on my piping jobs haha. It tastes more eggy than storebought but the texture is alot better. Ill post a picture later.