Zuppa Inglese

An Italian cake usually served on special occasions. Posted by request.

• Ready In: 2 hrs
• Serves: 8-12
• Yields: 1 ten inch cake

Ingredients

• 3  ounces rum
• 3  ounces Creme de Cacao
• 1  tablespoon  candied fruit, chopped fine
• 3  egg whites
• 4  tablespoons sugar

• Pan Di Spagna (Italian Sponge Cake)

• 5  egg yolks
• 1 1⁄2 cups sugar
• 1 1⁄4 cups  pastry flour, sifted
• 1  teaspoon vanilla
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  grated fresh lemon rind
• 5  egg whites

• Pasticciera Cream

• 3  tablespoons sugar
• 3  egg yolks
• 3  tablespoons flour
• 1⁄2 teaspoon  grated fresh lemon rind
• 1⁄2 teaspoon vanilla
• 2  cups milk (whole, not low fat)
• 1  tablespoon butter
• 2  ounces  baking chocolate squares, grated (if making chocolate pasticciera cream) (optional)

• Pan Di Spagna

•  butter
•  flour (for an "18 inch" square cake pan)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until lemon colored.
3. Add flour a little at a time, mixing well.
4. Add vanilla and lemon rind, mix well.
5. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
6. Fold egg whites into cake mixture.
7. Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
8. Bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes.
9. Cake should be a golden brown and spring back when lightly touched.
10. Remove cake from oven, turn cake onto a rack to cool.
11. ----Pasticciera Cream----.
12. In a 1 quart sauce pan, combine the sugar, egg yolks, flour, lemon rind, and vanilla and mix together well.
13. In a second sauce pan, scald milk.
14. Pour scalded milk over the egg yolk mixture, beating constantly with a rotary beater.
15. Cook egg/milk mixture on low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point.
16. Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
17. Remove from heat, add butter and mix well.
18. Pour cream into a bowl and let cool, stir it occasionally to prevent a skin from forming over the top.
19. ---Fora Chocolate Pasticciera Cream---.
20. Follow above recipe for pasticciera cream, omitting lemon rind.
21. Add grated chocolate to cooked pasticciera cream and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly, until chocolate is blended in well.
22. Cool as in above directions.
23. ----ZuppaInglese-----.
24. Cut sponge cake into half inch slices.
25. Sprinkle half the slices with rum, and the other half with creme de cacao.
26. Spread the bottom of a 10 inch oven proof dish with a little of the pasticciera cream.
27. Place 2 layers of the rum soaked cake slices on top of the cream.
28. Pour remaining pasticcera cream over the cake slices.
29. Sprinkle the candied fruit over the cream layer.
30. Cover the cream/candied fruit layer with 2 layers of the creme de cacao soaked cake slices.
31. In a medium sized bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
32. Add sugar to beaten whites, and beat again (to dissolve sugar).
33. Pile the beaten egg whites on top of the cake.
34. Bake in a slow (300°F) oven for 20 minutes.
35. Cool before serving.
36. Refrigerate any leftovers.