By Request

By Kekoa Catherine Enomoto

Wednesday, July 22, 1998

Specialty Bakers
Make this strawberry cloud pie an even more special
treat when using homemade ladyfingers.

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Tender morsels for dessert

Homemade ladyfingers are worth the effort

MY Fair Ladyfinger is the home-baked variety, a dessert book author asserts.

"Homemade ladyfingers are easy to make and are a world apart from the commercial kind," Viana La Place writes in "Desserts and Sweet Snacks Rustic Italian Style" (William Morrow and Co., 1998, $23), "more tender, less friable and not too sweet. They are perfect cookies for children."

The light, delicate sponge-cake morsels accompany sorbets, puddings and other desserts. Ladyfingers -- savoiardi in Italian -- are also an essential element, dating to the 17th century, in many Italian desserts.

If not home baking the fair variety, buy ladyfingers at bakeries and supermarkets. Ladyfinger recipes follow for requesters Sharon Jen of Makiki and Jane Smith of Manoa.

Ladyfingers

From "Desserts and Sweet Snacks Rustic Italian Style"
by Viana La Place, William Morrow and Co., 1998, $23

Unsalted butter and flour for baking sheets
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/4 cup potato starch, see note
Pinch salt
4 eggs, warmed to room temperature and separated
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A little grated orange zest to taste, optional
Powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Butter and lightly flour 2 baking sheets. In a bowl, stir together flour, potato starch and salt.

In another bowl, beat egg yolks with 2 tablespoons sugar until pale yellow, thick and creamy; stir in vanilla.

In another bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, then gradually beat in remaining sugar until whites are stiff and form peaks.

Gently fold 1/4 of egg-yolk mixture into beaten egg whites. Gradually fold alternating amounts of the flour mixture and the egg-white mixture into the remaining egg-yolk mixture. Batter should be light and fluffy.

Insert a 1/2-inch plain tip into a pastry bag, and spoon batter in bag. Pipe 4-inch-long strips of batter about 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Sift a generous amount of powdered sugar over cookie tops.

Bake about 8 to 10 minutes or until cookies are golden. Transfer to a cooling rack. Ladyfingers keep well in an airtight container for several weeks.

Note: Find potato starch in kosher or imported-foods section of supermarkets.

Approximate nutritional analysis per cookie: 50 calories, 1 g total fat, no saturated fat, 35 mg cholesterol, 20 mg sodium.*

Strawberry cloud pie

From Specialty Bakers

8 ladyfingers (equal to 3-ounce package ladyfingers)
4-serving-size box strawberry gelatin crystals
3/4 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
8-ounce container frozen whipped topping, thawed
1/2 cup sifted confectioners' sugar
2-1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
Additional fresh strawberries for garnish

Line bottom and side of 9-inch pie plate with ladyfinger halves, split sides up; set aside.

In a large bowl, dissolve gelatin crystals in boiling water. Stir in cold water. Refrigerate until thickened but not set, 40 to 45 minutes.

Add whipped topping and confectioners' sugar, stirring with wire whisk or fork to blend. Refrigerate until almost set, 30 to 40 minutes.

Fold in sliced strawberries. Spoon high into ladyfinger crust. Cover and refrigerate several hours or overnight. Garnish with additional strawberries just before serving. Makes 8 servings.

Approximate nutritional analysis per serving: 220 calories, 8 g total fat, 6 g saturated fat, 40 mg cholesterol, 50 mg sodium.*

Send queries along with name and phone number to:
By Request, Honolulu Star-Bulletin Food Section,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu 96802.
Or send e-mail to features@starbulletin.com

Asterisk (*) after nutritional analyses in the Body & Soul section indicates calculations by Joannie Dobbs of Exploring New Concepts, a nutritional consulting firm.