Zuppa inglese
The name means “English soup”, though it is not a soup, and its link to England rests only on guesses about the influence of the English trifle. It is associated above all with Emilia-Romagna and differs from tiramisu in two ways. First, instead of mascarpone there are two pastry creams — a pale, lemon-scented one and a chocolate one, layered alternately. Second, the sponge fingers are soaked in alchermes, a crimson spiced liqueur that gives the dessert its characteristic red band.
Your own work in that: 20 min.
- Custards 30 min
- Cooling 40 min
- Assembly 20 min
- Chilling 180 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneInfuse the milk with lemon peel
Bring the milk to a boil with lemon peel pared thinly, with no white pith, take it off the heat and leave covered for 10 minutes. The peel is the only aroma in this custard and it is what gives this crema pasticciera its typically Italian character.
Ingredients: 800 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 60 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 100 g dark chocolate · 1 tbsp cocoa
Cook the pale custard
Beat the yolks with the sugar and cornflour, temper with the strained, reheated milk, pour back into the pan and cook 3 minutes past thickening, stirring constantly. The custard must be thick — this dessert has no gelatine or cream, so the custard holds the layers.
Ingredients: 800 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 60 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 100 g dark chocolate · 1 tbsp cocoa
A thick custard — it is what holds the layers up.Divide it and make the chocolate half
Transfer half the hot custard to a second bowl, stir in the chopped chocolate and cocoa and mix until melted. The chocolate goes into hot custard — into cold it will not melt and stays in pieces.
Ingredients: 800 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 60 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 100 g dark chocolate · 1 tbsp cocoa
Cool both custards under film
Cover both with film touching the surface and cool 40 minutes. Film that does not touch leaves a skin, which later shows up as lumps in the dessert. Warm custard would reduce the biscuits to mush.
Ingredients: 800 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 60 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 100 g dark chocolate · 1 tbsp cocoa
Soak the biscuits briefly
Mix the alchermes with the water and dip each biscuit for one second a side. A second is enough: sponge fingers absorb instantly, and a soaked one collapses as you build the layers.
Ingredients: 300 g sponge fingers · 150 ml alchermes · 80 ml water
A second a side — longer and the biscuit falls apart.Build alternating layers
In a glass dish layer biscuits, pale custard, biscuits, chocolate custard and repeat. The glass dish is not a whim — the contrast of three colours is part of this dessert and only glass shows it.
Ingredients: 800 ml milk · 6 pcs egg yolks · 180 g sugar · 60 g cornflour · 1 pcs lemon · 100 g dark chocolate · 1 tbsp cocoa
Alternating, with all three colours visible through the glass.Chill three hours
Finish with a layer of custard, scatter with grated chocolate and chill 3 hours, ideally overnight. The biscuits have to soften and merge with the custard — eaten immediately it still tastes of separate ingredients.
Ingredients: 30 g dark chocolate
Before you start
Alchermes and what replaces it
Alchermes is a crimson liqueur flavoured with cinnamon, cloves and vanilla, sold in Italian delis. As a substitute: cherry liqueur, or rum with a spoonful of raspberry syrup — the red colour is part of this dessert's identity.
The alcohol-free version
For children, soak the biscuits in cherry or pomegranate juice with a squeeze of lemon. The acid matters — plain sweet juice makes the dessert cloying, since the custards are already sweet.
Two days in the fridge
Zuppa inglese is better on the second day and keeps in the fridge for up to two days. After that the biscuits lose all structure and the layers blur. It does not freeze — a starch-set custard separates once thawed.
