#Private Dinners and Cooking Classes: Zuppa Inglese, Trifle, a new Dessert directly to your holiday home in Tuscany

Here’s the dessert added just this year to our cooking classes. It is a typical Italian one, belonging to Tuscan tradition. It ‘very simple to make and quick too: no more than 30 minutes … I timed the time because of the courses …

In my family, only my grandmother cooked and it is from her that I learned the love of cooking, the passion for ingredients, always in season, always local. Instead from my mother-in-law, the legendary Rossy I learned the love for cakes and desserts, to prepare them, I mean.

Yet neither of them has ever made me taste the famous “Zuppa Inglese“! This dessert, amazing and envolving in colors and flavors…is however familiar to me … maybe because it reminds me the ice cream I ate when I was child?

The Trifle is part of that range of “soft” desserts which are absolutely my favorite ones. What can I do about? From Tiramisu to the Bavarese, I always love to sink the spoon in their creamy texture and slowly savor their taste, melting under the tongue.

However, since this dish was a not “passed down” one, I have resorted to Artusi, the father of Italian and Tuscan cuisine in general … the one who in a way has inspired my blog. And so, without thinking much, I picked up the book, “La Scienza in cucina e l’Arte di mangiar bene” (the Science in the Kitchen and the Art of eating well) and I looked for “Zuppa Inglese” or “Trifle”recipe.

I have reviewed the recipe in my own way and, above all, I tried to make it enjoyable for my courses: which means faster, easier and with easily available ingredients in your countries far from Italy.

After a couple of attempts, thanks to the guidance of Artusi and my passion for chocolate, I think I reached to the perfect “trifle” to everyone who (without much waste of time) loves to prepare this dessert far from Italy.

If you love the taste of custard and that of chocolate cream, alternating with “Savoiardi” cookies or sponge cake … well: this dessert is just the thing for you.

Between history and legend:

The origins of this Italian dessert lie most probably in 1500 at the court of the Dukes of Este as an adaptation of an Anglo-Saxon Renaissance dessert, the trifle. This last was considered a bit ‘the mother of all desserts, made with custard and sponge cake, the all washed down with alcohol (for example Cadiz Sherry).

The trade and diplomatic contacts with the British royal family were frequent, and it is probable that it was just a diplomat returning from London to ask the court chefs to taste again the trifle. The same thing happened in Tuscany.

In the various attempts the recipe was revised and modified; over time this “trifle” took the name of “Zuppa Inglese“.

ZUPPA INGLESE: TRIFLE…and the Perfect Custard Recipe

Recipe by Erika Elia (CuocheinVacanza.it)

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes
Total time: 30 minutes

Ingredients+

2 cups whole milk
3 oz sugar
4 eggs yolks
1 1/2 ozflour
1/2 lemon zested or
1/2 vanilla bean scraped
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
3 1/2 oz Alchermes liqueur
3 1/2 oz water
7 oz Savoiardi (ladyfingers)

Tools: a large transparent bowl or 4 monoportion cups
Cooking Directions
How making a perfect custard:

Combine the milk and the lemon zest (or vanilla bean)
heat the milk till boiling and then turn off the heat
whip the yolks with the sugar in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, out of the heat
add the flour stirring
combine the milk in this saucepan from top to bottom, gently and stirring constantly with a whisk
put the saucepan over the heat till you see the first bubbles
turn off the heat and remove the lemon zest

Continuing to prepare…

pour half of this cream in a bowl, combine the cocoa and stir until brown (now you have 2 creams: custard and chocolate one)
mix in a bowl the Alchermes and the water (equally)
soak the ladyfingers (one at a time) in liqueur just 3 seconds per side and
place in the transparent bowl to obtain a layer of soaked ladifingers
spread the custard over this layer
place another layer of soaked ladyfingers
spread the chocolate cream and so on until the ingredients are used up
refrigerate at least 2 hours