Pâte pour Biscuits à la Cuiller (Batter for Sponge Fingers)

Ingredients

• 500 grammes caster sugar
• 16 eggs
• 375 grammes sifted flour
• 1 spoonful orange-flower water
• caster sugar

Instructions

1. Work the sugar and the egg yolks in an earthenware bowl until the mixture has whitened slightly and makes the ribbon.
2. Mix in the orange-flower water, then the flour, letting it fall in like rain.
3. Fold in the 16 whites beaten to a very firm snow, lifting the mass with the spatula to keep it light.
4. Put the batter into a piping bag fitted with a nozzle whose opening is a centimetre and a half across, and lay the biscuits out on sheets of stout paper.
5. Sprinkle copiously with caster sugar, then lift each sheet by its two ends to shake off the excess.
6. Throw a few droplets of water onto the biscuits to encourage the pearling.
7. Bake in a very slow oven.