Ladyfingers Lay The Foundation For Simple, Elegant Dessert

For any number of reasons, you might find yourself without a dessert for your dinner party. Maybe you were too tired or maybe you thought no one would have a sweet tooth.


It starts with ladyfingers, those finger-like cookies also called savoiardi. Ladyfingers are so-called because of their thin narrow shape like delicate lady’s fingers. I usually keep a package in my pantry just for this purpose. One great thing about this dessert is the cookies can be prepared ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator. I find it’s best to plan on two cookies per guest.I’ve found myself in this situation and that’s why I always keep some elemental building blocks of quick desserts in the refrigerator and pantry. This particular sweet can be assembled in about five minutes — two minutes if you don’t take pictures of it. And not only will it please guests it will impress them too. You can make as many as you wish depending on the number of guests or the amount of the ingredients you have.

The other great thing about this dessert is that it is adaptable to many items you probably have in your pantry and refrigerator. If you don’t happen to have one of these ingredients then you will need to improvise, sticking with the basic concept of assembly.

The mascarpone cheese can be replaced with sour cream, thick yogurt or whipped cream. The strawberries can be replaced with raspberries, other berries, fresh figs, prune slices or raisins. The honey can be replaced with maple syrup, apricot preserves or raspberry preserves. The idea is that these should have three complementary tastes and should be eaten with one’s fingers.

This method can be repeated in any number of ways. You can slap together a wide variety of delicious little sweet bites in just minutes.

If you want a richer dessert (consider making just one per person with this recipe), try using pistachio preserves. These preserves last awhile in the refrigerator to become the building block of future quick sweets.

You can use all kinds of combinations, limited only by your imagination. Keep in mind the taste you’re seeking as well as color and final presentation: They should look irresistible.

Ladyfingers With Strawberries and Mascarpone Cheese

Ingredients

¼ cup mascarpone cheese

8 ladyfingers

1 tablespoon sugar

4 strawberries, sliced

4 teaspoons orange-blossom honey

8 tiny bouquets of fresh mint

Directions

1. Spread the mascarpone cheese on each ladyfinger. Set the ladyfingers on individual plates or a platter.

2. Sprinkle the sugar over the cookies.

3. Lay the sliced strawberries, overlapping slightly, on each ladyfinger. On the side, drizzle the honey and then garnish with the tiny bouquets of mint. Refrigerate until served.

Ladyfingers With Pistachio Preserves and Nutella

Serves 4

Ingredients

For the pistachio preserves:

¼ pound shelled unsalted pistachios, with as much of the purple skin scraped off as possible

½ cup sugar

2 tablespoons water

For the ladyfingers and assembly:

¼ cup Nutella spread

8 ladyfingers

3 tablespoons apricot preserves, chopped fine if needed

Directions

1. Prepare the pistachio preserves. Grind pistachios very finely in a food processor. Meanwhile, in a saucepan, melt the sugar and water together over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir in the ground pistachios and cook until thick, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Slice 8 thin slices of the set pistachio preserves for this preparation and store the remainder in the refrigerator.

2. Spread the Nutella on each ladyfinger. Set the ladyfingers on individual plates or a platter.

3. Lay the sliced pistachio preserves on top of each ladyfinger. Carefully spoon some apricot preserves on top of each section of pistachio preserves and then spoon drop some more attractively on the plate around the ladyfinger. They can get refrigerated until serving, but serve at room temperature.

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