Sponge Fingers

Ice cream tastes much nicer with little biscuits, and these sponge fingers are easy to make and require only 3 ingredients. My old recipe states that they should be made in a sponge finger tray, which is probably why they came out slightly flatter than they should do, but they taste good anyway, and any unwanted ones will be perfect in a trifle or tiramisu.   They don't have the rusk-like texture of bought sponge fingers, so no danger of coughing everywhere if you accidentally inhale the crumbs!   The recipe calls for strong plain flour, but don't worry if you don't have it, it just contains more gluten to keep the mixture in shape.

Sponge Fingers

1 large egg

3 level tbsps caster sugar

4 level tbsps strong plain flour (bread flour), sieved

Line a tin with baking parchment and preheat the oven to 200 deg C.  

Put the egg and sugar into a deep bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until the mixture is light and thick, ie stiff enough to hold an impression of the whisk for a few seconds.   This takes at least 5 minutes!  Using a metal spoon, lightly fold half the sieved flour over the mixture, then fold in the second half – this is to keep as much of the air in the mixture as possible, so don’t be tempted to dump it all in at once. 

Either pour the mixture in strips onto the baking sheet using a steady hand, or pipe quickly with a ½” pipe and bag.  Again, try not to lose all the air you have painstakingly whipped in!

Bake for about 10 minutes, until pale gold.  Remove from the oven and dust quickly with caster sugar.   Cool on a wire rack – they will stiffen on the rack.