Though Italian cookbooks wonder at the origins of this pudding's name, Zuppa Inglese really is an English trifle, in other words a pudding made by interlayering cake with cream and other ingredients. It's especially common in Tuscany, because the English who lived in the region a century ago often asked for it, but you will find it throughout the Peninsula. It can be served either chilled, or partially frozen, though if you take that route be careful lest it freeze solid. To serve 4-6 you'll need:
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Ingredients:
- 8 ounces (200 g) Savoiardi (see link below) or ladyfingers
- 3 cups (750 ml) milk
- 1/2 cup (50 g) flour
- 1/2 cup (100 g) sugar
- An ounce (30 g) bitter cocoa powder
- 4 yolks
- 1/2 cup of rum
- 1/2 cup Alkermes or other aromatic liqueur, for example Strega or Amaretto
- Whipped cream and maraschino cherries for decoration
- A deep, smooth-sided mold, lined with aluminum foil or oiled paper
Preparation:
Put all but a half cup of the milk in a pot and set the pot over a very gentle flame. Beat the yolks in a deep bowl with 3/8 cup (75 g) of the sugar, and then sift in the flour, beating steadily so as to obtain a smooth, lump-free cream.
Put the remaining sugar in another pot and mix the cocoa into it, then stir a tablespoon or two of cold milk into the mixture and heat it over a low flame, being careful to avoid the formation of lumps.
Gently stir the remaining cold milk into the egg mixture, and then, stirring constantly and gently, add the hot milk to the cream. When the cream is well mixed, gently pour it back into the pot you used to heat the milk and return it to the slow burner. Heat, stirring, until it barely reaches a boil, and cook for two minutes, stirring gently. Remove the pot from the fire, pour half the cream into a bowl, and gently stir the chocolate into the remaining half so as to obtain both pastry cream and chocolate cream.
Mix the rum and Alkermes with a quarter cup of water in a bowl, brush the Savoiardi with the mixture (don't soak them, or they will sweat out the excess later), and use them to line the pudding mold. Next, pour the pastry cream over the Savoiardi, cover it with a layer of brushed Savoiardi, and finish with the chocolate cream, followed by a final layer of brushed Savoiardi. Cover the pudding with aluminum foil and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
Come time to serve it, remove the foil, cover the mold with a serving dish and upend it, so the pudding comes to rest upon the serving dish. Remove the aluminum or oiled paper you used to line the mold, and decorate the zuppa inglese with dollops of whipped cream from a pastry sack, and maraschino cherries cut in half.
Yield: 4-6 servings zuppa inglese.
Put the remaining sugar in another pot and mix the cocoa into it, then stir a tablespoon or two of cold milk into the mixture and heat it over a low flame, being careful to avoid the formation of lumps.
Gently stir the remaining cold milk into the egg mixture, and then, stirring constantly and gently, add the hot milk to the cream. When the cream is well mixed, gently pour it back into the pot you used to heat the milk and return it to the slow burner. Heat, stirring, until it barely reaches a boil, and cook for two minutes, stirring gently. Remove the pot from the fire, pour half the cream into a bowl, and gently stir the chocolate into the remaining half so as to obtain both pastry cream and chocolate cream.
Mix the rum and Alkermes with a quarter cup of water in a bowl, brush the Savoiardi with the mixture (don't soak them, or they will sweat out the excess later), and use them to line the pudding mold. Next, pour the pastry cream over the Savoiardi, cover it with a layer of brushed Savoiardi, and finish with the chocolate cream, followed by a final layer of brushed Savoiardi. Cover the pudding with aluminum foil and chill it in the refrigerator for at least 12 hours.
Come time to serve it, remove the foil, cover the mold with a serving dish and upend it, so the pudding comes to rest upon the serving dish. Remove the aluminum or oiled paper you used to line the mold, and decorate the zuppa inglese with dollops of whipped cream from a pastry sack, and maraschino cherries cut in half.
Yield: 4-6 servings zuppa inglese.
