Vegan Ladyfingers (Savoiardi)

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 150c (fan) and line two baking trays with greaseproof paper. Alternatively, if you have silicone ladyfinger moulds, grease lightly with vegan butter and place them on the baking trays.

Step 2

In a medium bowl, sieve together the plain white flour, cornstarch, fine sea salt and baking powder. Set aside.

Step 3

In a spotlessly clean bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, place the aquafaba and whip on high speed until stiff peaks form. Stop the mixer, add the caster sugar and whisk again until the mixture is glossy and falls in ribbons.

Step 4

With the mixer still running, drizzle in the vanilla extract and the vegetable oil. Remove the bowl from the stand mixer and fold in the flour mixture until just combined and no lumps remain. Set aside on the counter to rest for 10 minutes.

Step 5

Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle and pipe the mixture into thick lines around 6-8 cm long on the lined baking trays or directly into the silicone ladyfinger moulds. This recipe makes around 20 lady fingers and I’d advise splitting them between two separate baking trays.

Step 6

Before baking, dust the tops of the batter with icing sugar.

Step 7

Place in the oven to bake for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven, leave to cool for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire cooling rack to cool and crisp up fully.