Italian · Emilia-Romagna · dessert

Zuppa Inglese

Zuppa Inglese reads sweetness 6.2, citrus 6.1 and sourness 5.5 on Palate's 0–10 flavor X-ray — a Italian · Emilia-Romagna dessert, about 7 hr 8 min. Measured from the recipe itself: ingredients and technique.

The flavor X-ray — six axes, 0–10

• Umami & Savory — 1.7 / 10
• Sweet & Fruity — 7.7 / 10
• Sour & Bright — 7.8 / 10
• Bitter & Earthy — 2.6 / 10
• Rich & Fat — 5.1 / 10
• Aromatic & Spice — 4.3 / 10

The measured notes (of 18)

Sweetness 6.2 · Citrus 6.1 · Sourness 5.5 · Richness 4.9 · Fruity 4.9 · Warm Spice 4.0 · Floral 3.5 · Bitterness 2.5 · Umami 1.6 · Earthy 1.0 · Salinity 0.5 · Nutty 0.5

What's in it (10)

• savoiardi — 300 g
• alchermes liqueur — 200 g
• water — 60 g
• regular milk — 750 g
• egg yolk — 600 g
• caster sugar — 180 g
• all-purpose flour — 60 g
• lemon — 65 g
• dark chocolate — 100 g
• vanilla extract — 5 g

Time & effort: about 7 hr 8 min (28 min active) · effort: medium

Nutrition (per 100 g, engine-estimated): 244.2 kcal, 16.2 g protein, 7.8 g fat, 27.1 g carbs

Dietary: Vegetarian · Contains dairy · Contains egg — engine-derived; double-check anything allergy-critical.

How it's cooked (8 steps)

1. Buy real Alchermes. It is the scarlet spiced liqueur, coloured historically with cochineal and flavoured with cinnamon, clove, cardamom and rose, that gives this pudding its pink stripes and its perfume; Italian delicatessens and online importers carry it. Rum, sherry or a red cordial produce a different dessert, and the honest thing is to call it something else.
2. Make the custard. Bring the milk to a bare simmer with the lemon zest strips and leave it 10 minutes off the heat to infuse, then fish the zest out.
3. Whisk the yolks with the sugar for 2 minutes until pale, then whisk in the flour until smooth. Pour on the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking hard.
4. Return the mixture to the pan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a whisk, for 6 to 8 minutes, until it thickens and just begins to blip. Cook 1 minute more after the first blip, which is what removes the raw taste of the flour. Stir in the vanilla.
5. Divide the custard in two. Stir the chopped chocolate into one half while it is still hot until it melts smooth. Press cling film onto the surface of both and cool 30 minutes; they should be cool but still spreadable.
6. Mix the Alchermes with the water in a shallow dish. Dip the savoiardi one at a time for about 2 seconds a side. They must be pink through but not sodden, or the pudding collapses.
7. Line a glass bowl with a layer of soaked biscuits, spread over half the plain custard, another layer of biscuits, all the chocolate custard, a third layer of biscuits, and finish with the remaining plain custard. Smooth the top.
8. Chill at least 6 hours, and better overnight, so the biscuits and the two custards set into a single sliceable thing. Serve cold, in scoops, showing the pink, cream and brown strata. Artusi records the dish in Bologna and Ferrara in exactly this layered form, whatever its English name suggests.

Dishes with a similar flavor shape

• Sweet Pineapple Yellow Rice — Indian
• Torrijas de Semana Santa — Spanish · Castile
• Apple Crumble — British
• Mazamorra Morada — Peruvian
• Chicha Morada — Peruvian

Keep reading: what sweetness, citrus, sourness mean in the flavor lexicon · the world's cuisines, by flavor.

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Every number above is Palate's engine-measured estimate, computed from this recipe's ingredients and techniques — not human-tasted ratings or reviews.