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| "Zuppa Inglese Cake" - The delicious creation of cake, cream, fruit, chocolate, whipped cream, and Lady Fingers. |
I've eaten Zuppa Inglese Cake (my family actually pronounces it "zoop-englase") many times before, but this was my first attempt at making it. And I would go with SUCCESS!! I had a hard time with a few aspects of it (namely the white cream and chocolate cream), but it still came out delicious. We celebrated my mom's 60th birthday this weekend, and this was a delicious dessert to the amazing dinner that my sister put together.
The essentials of this cake are: Sponge cake (or Chiffon Cake), white cream, fruit, chocolate cream, whipped cream, and lady fingers.
So let me walk you through the process:
I made the creams first, because you need to cook them on the stove and I wanted to give them ample time to cool down. They are almost identical, and they both gave me the same problem. They were too runny. After a couple hours cooling in the fridge, they were still too runny, so I put them back in a sauce pan (I skipped the double boiler and went right to the main pan), added some more corn starch, and let them boil for about 5 minutes while stirring continuously. And it worked out great. I actually got them a little thicker than I needed and cut them with some whipped cream. They came out perfect.
White cream, and chocolate cream, on the stove in the double boiler
Next, I made the cakes. I used a recipe from The King Arthur Flour Cookbook and it came out A-Mazing! So delicious. I had to make two separate recipes, and each recipe made enough for 2 9-inch round pans. The secret with Chiffon Cake is the cooling. Just like when you make Angel Food Cake, you need to cool these upside down. Even leaving them on the counter for 5 minutes will cause them to fall. So you gotta do it right. By cooling upside down, I mean propping the pans on something (I used cans of Pam and cans of Baking Powder). The cake doesn't fall out of the pan because you don't grease the pan. I divided each cake in half and used 5 layers all-together. The other 3 layers were delicious to snack on!!
Next, the fruit. I chose to use peaches (canned peaches in light syrup, and slice them thin), strawberries sliced thin, and instead of using jam, I used cherry pie filling.
Finally, the Whipped Cream. I used a quart of Heavy Whipping Cream, and started beating it in a bowl and whisk attachment that I had left in the freezer for a while. I then added about 6 Tablespoons of Confectioners Sugar and 2 teaspoons of Vanilla Extract and let it beat until it was the perfect consistency.
So your next question is probably, "But how?" My answer would be, "However you want!!" There is no real science to this cake. Just layer it up, and go for it! My method was: Cake, Cream, Peaches, Cake, Cream, Strawberries, Cake, Chocolate Cream, Cake, Cherries, Cake, and then Whipped Cream on top and all around the sides. The best part about frosting the sides is that you don't have to do a fancy job - you're going to cover the sides with the Lady Fingers, anyway!!!
Here are the recipes I used!!
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold milk
1 1/2 cups scalded milk
3 eggs slightly beaten
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Scald the 1 1/2 cups milk. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually add cold milk, stirring well - make sure you mix in the sugar mixture that gets stuck in the corners of the pan). Slowly stir in the scalded milk. Stirring gently and constantly, rapidly bring mixture to boiling over direct heat and cook 3 minutes. Pour into top of double boiler and place over simmering water. Cover and cook about 12 minutes, stirring 3 or 4 times. Vigorously stir about 3 Tablespoons hot mixture into the eggs. Immediately blend into mixture in double boiler. Cook over simmering water 3 to 5 minutes. Stir slowly so mixture cooks evenly. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in vanilla extract and chill. ***I did everything up until this point. I saw that the mixture seemed too runny for me, and I let it cool, anyway. After about 2 hours, it was still too runny. I added the cooled mixture back into a sauce pan, and mixed in another 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch. I turned the heat on the stove, let the mixture come up to a boil, and stirred continuously (about 5-7 minutes) until it thickened up. I then transferred the mixture back into a bowl and let it cool in the refrigerator. When I was ready to use the cream, I mixed it up, and then added in some whipped cream to make it fluffier.
Chocolate Cream Filling (Adapted from The Recipe Link)
1 1/2 ounces (1 1/2 squares) unsweetened chocolate
2/3 cups sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold milk
1 1/2 cups scalded milk
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
Add unsweetened chocolate to 1 1/2 cups of milk and scald. Combine sugar, cornstarch, and salt in a saucepan. Gradually add cold milk, stirring well. Slowly stir in the scalded milk. Stirring gently and constantly, rapidly bring mixture to boiling over direct heat and cook 3 minutes. Pour into top of double boiler and place over simmering water. Cover and cook about 12 minutes, stirring 3 or 4 times. Vigorously stir about 3 Tablespoons hot mixture into eggs. Immediately blend into mixture in double boiler. Cook over simmering water 3 to 5 minutes. Stir slowly so mixture cooks evenly. Remove from heat and cool. Stir in vanilla extract. Chill. ***I did everything up until this point. Once again, I saw that the mixture seemed too runny for me, and I let it cool, anyway. After about 2 hours, it was still too runny. I added the cooled mixture back into a sauce pan, and mixed in another 1 Tablespoon of cornstarch. I turned the heat on the stove, let the mixture come up to a boil, and stirred continuously (about 5-7 minutes) until it thickened up. I then transferred the mixture back into a bowl and let it cool in the refrigerator. When I was ready to use the cream, I mixed it up, and then added in some whipped cream to make it fluffier.
Chiffon Cake (From the King Arthur Flour Cookbook)
7 eggs, separated (make sure you do not get any of the yolks mixed into the whites!!)
1/2 tsp Cream of Tartar
1 1/2 cups sugar, divided
2 cups KA AP Flour
2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
3/4 tsp Salt
1/2 cup Vegetable Oil (I used Corn OIl, because that's what I had)
3/4 cup Milk (I used 2%)
2 tsp Vanilla
1 tsp Almond Extract
In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites with the Cream of Tartar until foamy. Gradually add 1/2 cup of sugar and continue beating until stiff and glossy. Set Aside.
Whisk together the remaining 1 cup sugar with the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the oil, milk, egg yolks, vanilla, and almond extract until pale yellow. Add the dry ingredients and beat until well blended (About 2 minutes on medium speed on a stand mixer).
Gently fold in the whipped egg whites. Be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so the batter is well-blended. Pour the batter into an two 9-inch ungreased round pans .You can also use a 10-inch tube pan, if desired.
Bake in a preheated 325*F oven for 50 minutes if using 9-inch rounds, or for 1 hour if using a tube pan. Don't open the oven during the baking process!!! You know it's done when a finger gently pressed in the middle doesn't leave a print, and you can hear a crackling sound.
Cool the cake pan upside down for 1/2 hour before removing it from the pan.
Whipped Cream
1 Quart Heavy Cream
6 Tbsp Confectioners Sugar
2 tsp Vanilla
Beat it!
After you have assembled the cake, store it in the refrigerator. I made this cake Saturday afternoon, and we didn't serve it until Sunday. This gave the cake plenty of time to settle and marry, and it turned out delicious.
Enjoy!!
