“Zuccotto is a type of small combat helmet of an Italian infantryman (late 16th century), shaped like the half of a pumpkin (pumpkin in Italian sounds like “zucca”). There are a lot of variations of zuccotto, thinly sliced biscuit and whipped cream or ricotta cream are considered indispensable. And, of course, in the form of a dome!
INGREDIENTS
for the sponge cake:
- 5 eggs
- powdered sugar – 120 g
- starch – 30 g
- 70 g flour
- vanilla sugar – 10 g
for the cream:
- milk chocolate – 100 gr
- almonds – 50 g
- amarettini or meringue cookies – 50 g
- cream (at least 33% fat) – 500 ml
- powdered sugar – 25g
- cocoa for sprinkles
- clingfilm
Instructions
For the sponge cake: separate the whites from the yolks in different bowls. For this cake, be sure to use baking powdered sugar. (The one that is sold in small bags of 50 or 100 g “for decorating culinary products and making icing sugar” will not work!!!)
Mix the yolks with the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar and beat on the maximum speed of the mixer until the mixture has lightened and increased in volume. Whisk the egg whites with a pinch of salt until stiff.
Transfer the whipped whites to the yolk mixture and mix thoroughly. (You can use a mixer – on minimum speed). Then sift the flour and starch into the mixture. And here you need to mix only by hand – with a wooden spatula or a silicone spatula – in wide, calm movements from bottom to top.
Preheat the oven to 175° C. Line a square dish (20×20) with parchment and butter the entire dish. Pour the batter into the mold, place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes with the door tightly closed. DO NOT open the oven during baking! After the specified time MUST check the biscuit – with a splinter in several places, paying special attention to the top of the cake. If when piercing the surface stands out a light dough, the biscuit is not ready. A properly baked biscuit is quite dense and elastic when pressed. The crust of the biscuit should be quite dark. The sponge should come out completely dry and clean.
Let the biscuit stand in the mold for about 10 minutes, then gently slide a knife between the biscuit and the rim of the mold. Place the biscuit, top side down, on a wire rack and cool completely! This is very important. It will be almost impossible to cut the biscuit evenly!
While the biscuit is cooling, prepare the cream: put the almonds in boiling water and boil for 1 minute, then pour cold water over them. Remove the skins and dry in a hot dry pan, then chop them up finely. Chop the amarettinis or meringues into coarse crumbs. Halve the chocolate. Grate the first half with a grater or in a blender and set aside. Chop the other half as well and put it in a heatproof bowl. Measure out 50 ml of cream and put it on the fire, bring it almost to the boil, and immediately pour the prepared chocolate over it. Leave to stand for a minute without stirring, then stir with a spatula until smooth. Set aside.
Whip the remaining cream at maximum mixer speed until stiff, gradually adding the powdered sugar. Add the reserved chocolate and nuts and stir to combine.
Divide the mixture in half. Add the amarettini to one part and pour the chocolate glaze into the other part. Knead both creams together well. Place in refrigerator until cake is assembled. (At least 20 minutes to allow the cream to cool well).
Cut the cooled biscuit into two equal pieces from top to bottom. Be sure to use a wide and very sharp knife! The biscuit should be sliced in one motion, not “sawed”.
Cut each half of the sponge cake into slices no thicker than 1 cm. Be sure to save all the scraps and use them to line the bottom of the cake later on.
Assembling: Line a medium-sized bowl (glass is best, so you can see how the biscuit is laying down) with two layers of clingfilm, leaving fairly long ends. Grease with butter. Lay out the first (outer) layer of cake as in the photo, slightly squeezing the biscuit slices toward the center. By the way, sponge cake (also called “sponge”) is very flexible and pliable, so feel free to work with it, neither tear nor deform it! Large “gaps” can be filled with leftover small scraps, but it is not necessary – the cake will still be covered with powder and cocoa. For the first layer, use half of the biscuit slices.
Place the amarettini cream on the first layer of biscuits. Start laying from the center, gradually adding the cream to the side of the biscuits, in small portions (a tablespoon at most), each time slightly pressing the cream with the convex side of the spoon. That is, keeping the shape of the “dome”.
Then lay out (see photo) half of the remaining biscuits in the form of a “flower”, leaving the top parts of the “dome” unfilled.
Next – the chocolate cream – lay it out so that the resulting cake is completely filled. Flatten well with the convex side of a spoon.
Top (bottom of the cake) lay out the remaining biscuits, cut into random strips. After that, lightly press with your hands the entire resulting structure.
Sprinkle a little powdered sugar, and then cover the top with the ends of the leftover clingfilm. Make sure that the entire surface is covered! Put it in the fridge for 2 hours. For the next two hours, you need to move the cake from the fridge to the freezer every 20 minutes. (Yes, it’s a hassle, but you can’t help it – you have to!)
Leave the cake in the refrigerator for the last 20 minutes. Then prepare a serving dish, take the cake out of the cold, open the ends of the cling film. Set the bowl with the cake on the dish and let it stand like that at room temperature for 8-10 minutes. Then, gently pulling the ends of the cling film apart, remove the cake from the bowl. Remove the cling film.
I sprinkled the cake with cocoa mixed with powdered sugar and placed currant sprigs on top of the cake. The smart thing to do would be to leave 2 tablespoons of cream (keep it in the fridge), and sprinkle a thin layer over the finished cake before sprinkling, masking any “inconsistencies” in the sponge cake. Or make a chocolate frosting and apply it evenly over the entire surface of the cake. But either way, you can easily hide any irregularities by decorating the cake with fruit, berries or fondant, frosting, etc.
The cake is stored in the refrigerator.
Bon appetit!
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