Zuppa Inglese (Italian Trifle)
This recipe is one of the most traditional Italian desserts throughout the country. Easy to make and absolutely delicious, Italian Zuppa Inglese is sure to be a crowd-pleaser.
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Servings: 12 servings
Calories: 364kcal
Ingredients
- 1 l (4.23 cups) milk
- 350 g (1.75 cups) sugar
- 200 ml (0.85 cups) Alchermes liqueur
- 80 gr (0.64 cups) flour
- 9 egg yolks
- 30 gr (6 tbsp) cocoa powder
- ½ (½) vanilla bean
- 1 (1) lemon
- 24 (24) large ladyfingers can be replaced with a sheet of sponge cake
Equipment
- medium-sized saucepan
- lemon zester
- bowls including one large and several medium and small bowls
- Whisk
- one large or several small single-serving glass bowls or cylinder-shaped dishes
- Plastic wrap
Instructions
- The first step is to make the pastry cream. To do this, bring the milk to a very low boil in a medium saucepan with the vanilla bean and a bit of lemon zest.
- While the milk is coming to a boil, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a large bowl until well combined. Then add the flour and whisk well once more.
- Remove the vanilla bean. Now, while whisking constantly, slowly add the hot milk to the bowl with the egg mixture. You must continue whisking the entire time and add the milk slowly, a little at a time, for the pastry cream to be smooth.
- Then pour the egg yolk and milk mixture back into the saucepan and return to low heat while continuing to whisk until the pastry cream has thickened up a bit, but is nice and smooth. This should take about 5 to 6 minutes.
- Remove the pastry cream from the heat and separate it into two bowls.
- Sprinkle one bowl of the pastry cream with a bit of sugar, then mix, and cover. Then add the cocoa powder to the other bowl of pastry cream, mix until smooth, and cover. Now, allow both bowls of pastry cream to cool.
- Pour the Alchermes into a low bowl. Dip the ladyfingers (or sponge cake) into the Alchermes for about 2 seconds on both sides to sop up the color and flavor and follow the assembly directions below.
- To assemble, place a base layer of the dipped ladyfingers into one large or several small single-serving glass bowls or cylinder-shaped dishes.
- Next cover the ladyfingers with some of the cocoa infused pastry cream. Now, add another layer of ladyfingers and cover with some of the vanilla pastry cream. Then continue to alternate layers of ladyfingers and pastry cream until you fill the dish. It's a good idea to place the ladyfingers perpendicular to the previous layer to help with stability.
- Once all the layers have been formed, seal with plastic wrap, and put the dish(es) in the refrigerator to chill and set for about 2 hours.
- To serve, top the dessert with whipped cream or dust with cocoa powder.
Notes
This recipe uses ladyfingers, as they are the most common way to make this dish. However, a layer of sponge cake cut into the shape of the serving dish can be used to substitute the layers of ladyfingers when building the dessert. If you decide to use sponge cake, follow the directions in our sponge cake recipe.
Quantities can be reduced by ratio to make a smaller amount to serve fewer guests.
Serving: 150g | Calories: 364kcal | Carbohydrates: 59g | Protein: 9g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 4g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 205mg | Sodium: 73mg | Potassium: 227mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 39g | Vitamin A: 458IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 140mg | Iron: 2mg
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