Lady finger pudding cake (savoiardi pudding)
( Budino di savoiardi )

Lady finger pudding cake recipe

Preparation and cooking

• - Prepare sultanas and candied cherries.
  Soak sultanas in warm water for about 20-30 minutes.
  Then squeeze them very well.
  Meanwhile chop candied cherries.
  Mix candied cherries with sultanas in a cup and pour in rum.
  Stir and put apart.
• - Prepare savoiardi in your mold.
  Grease a quite high cylindrical mold of 20 cm in diameter with butter.
  Arrange ladyfingers in a first layer. I usually make four layers with this amount of lady fingers at the end.
  Spread over one third of raisins and candied fruit, well squeezed from rum.
  Make a second layer of biscuits and spread another third of raisins and candied fruit.
  On the third layer of biscuits finish distributing candies and raisins.
  Complete with the fourth layer of biscuits.
  Never press lady fingers.
• - Prepare milk-and-egg mixture.
  Grate orange peel after washing it and put apart.
  Shell eggs in a bowl and then add 2 egg yolks and sugar.
  Beat your mixture for a long time by hand or with electric mixer until white and foamy.
  Now add vanilla powder and grated orange rind to this and then milk, little by little, stirring constantly.
• - The last step.
  Pour milk-and-egg mixture on ladyfinger layers gently.
  Let it soak all biscuits well (it takes about 10 minutes).
  Press gently the last layer with the back of a spoon if this does not happen.
  Turn on the oven and set it to 150°C (300°F).
  Place your mold into another container with water and bake in the preheated oven.
  Cook for about 30 minutes in this water bath and then raise the temperature to 170 - 180 ° C (340° - 360°F).
  From this time it takes between 45 to 60 minutes to finish cooking in the same water bath.
  At the end of cooking insert a long wood toothpick into the pudding, it should be dry, once extracted.

Just before serving

• - Let your cake cool completely before turning it on a serving plate.
  You can serve it in this way or garnished on the top with candied fruit and/or chocolate curls.

Note

Tips

• - At Carnival use multicolor candied fruit and garnish pudding surface with green and red candied cherries.
• - If you have any pudding left, chill until the day after.
• - If you prepare this pudding for your children, don't soak sultanas and candied fruit in rum.
  In this case use grated rind of two oranges.
  If you prepare it only for adults you can sprinkle all ladyfingers with the remaining rum.

Menu planning

• - You can prepare ladyfinger pudding all year round.
• - This pudding is perfect for an after dinner party or to conclude a lunch or dinner based on meat courses.
• - It's a good choice for a kid party or birthday get-togethers too, provided you make the necessary corrections to the recipe as I've just described.
• - It's ideal according to me for a meal, buffet-style. It's a soft dessert and can be eaten standing without any problem.

Healthy eating

• - Ladyfinger pudding has lights and shadows, like all sweets and therefore it shouldn't become a regular dish for the family.
• - Let's start with calories. A portion also goes far beyond what is recommended for a snack.
• - Total fat. Undoubtedly their value doesn't make us worry but I fear it is the only good thing.
• - Sugars. These notes are really painful. If you look at the percentage of the recommended doses in Europe you might think to have a wide margin for the day, but if we take into account the daily dose recommended by WHO, the music changes. I remind you that WHO considers sugar a poison and raises the bar to 50 grams per day.

Loretta

What's the right wine for " Lady finger pudding cake (savoiardi pudding) "?

My husband and I generally Asti spumante (sparkling wine of Piedmont - Italy) to this pudding with ladyfingers.