Zuccotto
A Florentine dessert whose shape, as the popular story goes, echoes the dome of Brunelleschi's cathedral — it is assembled upside down in a bowl, the sides lined with strips of sponge. The filling is double, and not by accident: the paler ricotta layer goes on the outside, the darker chocolate one in the centre, so the cut face shows two rings. The top is dusted alternately with cocoa and icing sugar, in wedges like the roof of the dome.
Your own work in that: 25 min.
- Sponge 45 min
- Filling 25 min
- Lining the bowl 25 min
- Chilling 300 min
Step by step
0 / 8 doneBake a thin sponge on a tray
Whisk the eggs with the sugar and salt for 8 minutes to a pale, tripled foam, fold in the sifted flour with a spatula and spread on a lined tray. Bake 12 minutes at 190°C and cool on a rack. The sponge should be thin and flexible, not tall.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 120 g plain flour · 1 pinch salt
Drain the ricotta for an hour
Drain the ricotta in a muslin-lined sieve for an hour. Undrained it thins the filling, and zuccotto holds together only by that filling's density — there is no gelatine or anything else to set it.
Ingredients: 700 g ricotta · 180 g icing sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · 150 g dark chocolate · 80 g candied peel · 60 g almonds · 30 g cocoa
Line a bowl with film and sponge
Line a 2 litre bowl with overhanging film, cut the sponge into strips and triangles and line the sides, overlapping with no gaps. Brush the strips with the alchermes mixed with water.
Ingredients: 100 ml alchermes · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp cocoa · 2 tbsp icing sugar
No gaps — every hole lets filling escape.Make the pale ricotta filling
Beat the ricotta with the icing sugar, fold in the cream whipped to stiff peaks, then half the chocolate, the peel and the almonds. The filling must be thick — if loose, chill it 20 minutes before using.
Ingredients: 700 g ricotta · 180 g icing sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · 150 g dark chocolate · 80 g candied peel · 60 g almonds · 30 g cocoa
A thick filling — a loose one slumps when inverted.Line the walls with the pale filling
Spread two-thirds of the pale filling along the walls, leaving a hollow in the centre. Even out the thickness with a spoon — this layer will read as the outer ring in the cut face.
Ingredients: 700 g ricotta · 180 g icing sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · 150 g dark chocolate · 80 g candied peel · 60 g almonds · 30 g cocoa
Fill the centre with the chocolate filling
Stir the cocoa and remaining chocolate into the rest of the filling and fill the hollow in the centre. The two colours are the point of the construction — a single filling gives a cake that reveals nothing when cut.
Ingredients: 700 g ricotta · 180 g icing sugar · 250 ml whipping cream (36%) · 150 g dark chocolate · 80 g candied peel · 60 g almonds · 30 g cocoa
Close the base with sponge and weight it
Cover the top with a disc of sponge, brush with the soaking mixture, fold the film over and press down with a plate and a light weight. The weight compacts the layers so the cake holds its shape once inverted.
Ingredients: 100 ml alchermes · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp cocoa · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Chill five hours and dust in wedges
Chill 5 hours or overnight, invert onto a stand and peel off the film. Dust the top alternately with cocoa and icing sugar, in wedges — use a strip of paper as a template, moving it round the dome.
Ingredients: 100 ml alchermes · 60 ml water · 2 tbsp cocoa · 2 tbsp icing sugar
Alternating wedges — a paper strip as the template.
Before you start
The frozen version
Zuccotto semifreddo is frozen rather than chilled and served straight from the freezer after 15 minutes in the kitchen. Add 2 tablespoons of spirit to the filling then — it lowers the freezing point so the mixture does not set rock hard.
Shop-bought sponge
Ready-made sponge or savoiardi fingers work too and save an hour. Lay savoiardi tightly, side by side — they are dry and firm, so dip each one in the soaking mixture for two seconds a side.
Three days in the fridge
Zuccotto keeps three days and is better on the second, as the soaking spreads through the sponge. Dust with cocoa only before serving — overnight it draws moisture and loses its contrast.
