Zuppa inglese: how to make the soup that isn’t soup
Inzuppare means soaking an ingredient (bread, rusks, biscuits) in a liquid to soften it and add flavor. For example, when making tiramisù. And that’s exactly what we do for zuppa inglese; the soup that isn’t soup. The recipe comes from the wonderful book Tasting Italy.
Zuppa inglese is a dessert with a story. Or rather: several stories. The first story goes like this: in the 16th century, an English diplomat asked the pastry chefs of the Este household, the rulers of the Duchy of Ferrara, to make a trifle. They gave this British dish an Italian twist using the ingredients they had on hand…
Another story takes place somewhat later. In the 19th century. The governess of an English family living in Tuscany came up with a dessert to use up leftover pastry cream, chocolate pudding and biscuits, dipping the biscuits in sweet wine.
Or is the origin story of zuppa inglese completely different? The third story tells us that the dessert may be a variation on zuppa del duca, a dessert supposedly created in Siena in 1552 for Duke Ippolito da Correggio. In 1800, the soup supposedly made its way to Café Doney in Florence, where it was so appreciated by the British that it was given the nickname ‘English’.
The first recipe for zuppa inglese
In any case, the first recipe for zuppa inglese appeared in 1832 in Manuale del credenziere, confetturiere e liquorista di taffinato gusto moderno (Manual for the cook, pastry chef and liqueur maker of modern taste) by Vincenzo Agnoletti, court marshal at the court of Marie-Louise of Austria in Parma. His cake—layers of biscuits soaked in rum, the favorite liqueur of English sailors, with candied fruit, jam and meringue, with cream as an optional ingredient—is a far cry from the version we know today.
It was not until 1891 that Pellegrino Artusi described this dessert in Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well as we know it today, with savoiardi, alchermes (a beautiful, carmine-red liqueur) and cream, but without cocoa.
How to make zuppa inglese
Enough talk, let’s get to work!
- Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together in a saucepan. Add the flour, followed by the milk, and mix well. Slowly bring the mixture to a boil, stirring constantly in the same direction. Once the first bubbles appear, simmer gently for another 5 minutes. Then remove from the heat.
- Pour one third of the cream into a bowl, add the cocoa and a few drops of alchermes. (Alchermes can be diluted with rum or syrup, or replaced entirely with coffee.) Whisk until smooth and even.
- Halve the savoiardi lengthwise, dip them in the liqueur and line the bottom and long sides of the dish. Pour half
of the pastry cream into the dish, cover with the liqueur-soaked biscuits and pour all the chocolate cream over the top. - Cover with savoiardi and finish with a layer of pastry cream. Fold the edges of the savoiardi sticking out above the dish inward, over the cream.
- Refrigerate the dish for at least 6 hours before removing the cake from the mold. You can also serve the dessert in individual bowls.
Title: Tasting Italy
Author: François-Régis Gaudry & friends
Price: €59,99
Publisher Lannoo
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