Chocolate Covered Ricotta Zuccotto

 

Valentine's Day is just around the corner, and here's your chance to wow any sweetheart with an easy dessert - no baking involved. Just buy a Pandoro - it's like panettone but without the candied fruit -- and is ubiquitous in stores at Christmas time. If you didn't stash an extra one in your pantry during December, or can't find one where you live, you can substitute another type of store-bought cake. Just make sure it has enough density to hold up to the ricotta filling.

I lined a colander with plastic wrap but if you have a round bowl, use that instead. Then slice the pandoro and fit it into the perimeter of the container, squishing in pieces where there may be a gap. I make a simple syrup and add some orange liqueur (optional) then drizzle it all around the cake. Otherwise, I think the cake can be dry. Besides, it adds more flavor.

After you've mixed the ricotta with the chopped chocolate and sugar, spread some of it into the center, over the bottom of the cake (that becomes the top once flipped over). Add another layer of cake and sprinkle with more simple syrup. 

Use the remaining ricotta filling, then finish with another layer of cake, and more simple syrup over it all. Cover with plastic wrap and leave it in the refrigerator overnight.

Flip it over the next day, and drizzle the chocolate glaze on top before serving. 

Decorate with orange peel and serve. Happy Valentine's Day

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Chocolate Covered Ricotta Zuccotto

1 pandoro cake

1 lb. ricotta cheese, drained overnight

2/3 cup confectioner's sugar

2/3 cup dark chocolate, cut into bits (or use chocolate chips)

grated zest of one orange

For the Simple Syrup:

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons orange liqueur

Bring the water and sugar to a boil until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and add the orange liqueur.

Assembly:

Line a colander or medium-size round bowl with plastic wrap. Cut slices of the pandoro, about 1/2-3/4 inch thick. Arrange slices around the perimeter of the bowl. Swipe with some of the simple syrup. Mix the ricotta, sugar, chocolate and orange zest. Place some of the ricotta mixture in the center of the bowl, then add another layer of the pandoro, and swipe with more simple syrup. Add the rest of the ricotta, and finish with another layer of the cake, and more simple syrup over everything. Cover with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator overnight. The next day before serving, flip the cake over, remove the plastic wrap and spread the chocolate glaze on top (see below recipe), decorating with some orange strips, or candied orange peel. 

For the topping:

3/4 cup water

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

2 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped finely

Mix all the ingredients together in a small saucepan (except the 2 ounces of chocolate), whisking over medium heat until it begins to boil. Remove from heat and add the chopped chocolate until it melts into the sauce. Wait a couple of hours for the sauce to thicken before using on the zuccotto. Put it in the refrigerator or place the pan in a pot of ice  to speed up the process.

Spread topping all over the zuccotto, and decorate with orange peel. 

Pandoro Zuppa Inglese and Alkermes

 Pandoro is a staple in Italian households at holiday time, along with its cousin, Panettone. Unlike panettone, pandoro has no raisins or candied fruits, and is typically served with a dusting of powdered sugar.

But with all the cakes, cookies, candies and ice cream eaten in our household in the last week, there is still plenty of Pandoro to be eaten. 

If you're like me and have leftover pandoro, here's a way to use it up - a zuppa inglese - a classic Italian dessert whose name translates to "English soup," although it's not at all a soup, but more of an English trifle. The words "pan d'oro" mean golden bread in Italian, and it's easy to see why once you slice into the egg-rich confection.

Zuppa Inglese is typically made with sponge cake and layers of pastry cream. The cake is usually sprinkled with Alkermes, an aromatic red liqueur that's used in Italian desserts and as a digestivo. 

Recipes for Alkermes date back to the Renaissance, and generally contain a variety of spices including cardamom, cloves and cinnamon, along with rose water and other ingredients. Its scarlet red color is derived from a small parasitic insect called kermes, or cochineal. These are parasitic insects growing on paddles of prickly pear cactus in Mexico and Central and South America. They look like a white fungus on the prickly pear paddle, but when when scraped off, give off a brilliant red color. On a trip to Peru earlier this year, I saw the insects first hand, and observed Incan women dying fabric using coloring made from the insects after they were dried and ground.

Here in the U.S., it's nearly impossible to find alkermes (sometimes spelled alchermes) but the last time I was in Florence, I brought some back from the Santa Maria Novella Farmacia, one of the oldest pharmacies in the world, dating back to 1221, and well worth a visit. 

The farmacia has expanded its product line to include perfumes, soaps and other items, but still makes alkermes, using the same recipe since 1743. 

The company now has branches all around the world, including one in New York City, but alas, alkermes can't be bought there.

If you can't get to Florence, Italy, you can always try making your own alkermes. Francine Segan has a recipe in her book "Dolci," (using red food coloring, not cochineal insects). Email me if you'd like that recipe. Or use a combination of kirsch and the liquid from maraschino cherries. It won't taste the same, but it's a pleasant substitute and it will be the right color.

Anyhow, to assemble the zuppa inglese, make some chocolate pastry cream and some vanilla pastry cream. I "cheated" and used a box of instant chocolate pudding, to which I added some rum, and a box of instant vanilla pudding, to which I added some whipped cream.

Place the chocolate pudding on the bottom of large glass bowl, followed by a layer of the pandoro (or sponge cake or savoiardi biscuits.) Sprinkle the pandoro with the alkermes, then cover with  the vanilla pudding/whipped cream mixture, followed by another layer of pandoro and more alkermes. 

Whip some heavy cream, spread it over the layers and top with sprinkles. Grab a spoon and dig in.

For more recipes using pandoro, click here for a Pandoro "Christmas tree",

 here for a zuppa inglese "alla Napoletana,"

and here for a fruity zuccotto.

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Pandoro Zuppa Inglese with Alkermes

printable recipe here

1 large Pandoro cake (or sponge cake or savoiardi biscuits)

1 small box instant chocolate pudding

1/4 cup dark rum

1 small box instant vanilla pudding

1/2 pint whipping cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

alkermes (I diluted it slightly with a simple sugar syrup made by boiling some sugar with water)

sprinkles

Mix the packaged instant pudding according to directions on the box (or make pastry cream from scratch.) Add the rum to the chocolate pudding. Whip the 1/2 pint of cream with the sugar, and fold 1 cup of the whipped cream to the vanilla pudding. Save the rest for the top.

Slice the pandoro cake. Place the chocolate pudding on the bottom of a large glass bowl and cover with slices of the pandoro (or sponge cake or savoiardi biscuits.) Sprinkle alkermes on top, then cover with the vanilla pudding. Place more slices of pandoro on top of the vanilla pudding and sprinkle with more alkermes.

Spread the remaining whipped cream on top and decorate with colored sprinkles.

  

Zuppa Inglese Alla Napoletana

I know, I know. Most of you are in detox mode after the decadent excess of holiday eating. But if you're like me, there's still a panettone or pandoro lurking in your pantry somewhere. I tucked the extra panettone in the freezer and will pull it out later this winter for this warm, boozy bread pudding that's always appreciated on a cold day in February. But the pandoro was put to good use last weekend in this zuppa inglese. (Side note - My darn computer's spell check keeps changing zuppa inglese to "cuppa ingress," whatever that is!)

Anyhoo, you don't even need a pandoro for this dessert. You just need a sponge cake - something you could make or pick up at the bakery.

Traditional zuppa inglese has layers of liqueur-soaked sponge cake, interspersed with pastry cream, and topped with whipped cream. I didn't leave out the whipped cream on top, but this version uses ricotta cream instead of pastry cream, something you'd find in a lot of Neapolitan desserts, hence the "all Napoletana" in the name. 

I don't normally trim the outer "crust" of a pandoro, but in this case I did. Just because I thought it would look nicer through the glass bowl. But first slice the cake in horizontal layers, then trim the crusts.

 I made about five layers, each about 1 inch thick.

 Place the first layer in a bowl, filling in the circumference with smaller pieces you cut from the larger ones. Drizzle the simple syrup and liqueur mixture over the top once it's in the bowl.

 Mix the ricotta, sugar and chocolate bits together.

 Spread the ricotta mixture in between each layer of cake, drizzling each cake layer with more simple syrup and liqueur.

 Top the whole thing with whipped cream and decorate with chocolate curls.

It tastes pretty good right away, but if you leave it in the refrigerator overnight, it's even better, since the liqueur and simple syrup have more time to permeate the cake. 

And if you've still got some bits of cake and leftover ricotta that won't fit into that big bowl, make a mini zuppa inglese just for you and someone special.

 Dig In!

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Zuppa Inglese Alla Napoletana

printable recipe here

1 large Pandoro, or slices of sponge cake

3 pounds ricotta cheese

1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup rum

3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped into bits

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

Slice the Pandoro into four or five horizontal slices, then trim the "crusts." Place one layer in a glass bowl, and cut pieces to fit the circumference of the bowl. 

With a wooden spoon, mix the ricotta cheese with the sugar and chocolate.

Make a simple syrup by boiling the water with the sugar. Remove from heat once the sugar is dissolved. Let cool, then add the rum.

Drizzle the syrup liberally over the cake layer, then spread some of the ricotta filling over the cake.

Continue layering the cake, drizzling the syrup and spreading the ricotta until you get almost to the top of the bowl. I used three layers of cake and two layers of ricotta.

Whip the cream with the confectioners' sugar, then spread the whipped cream over the last ricotta layer. Shave some chocolate over the top to decorate.