The origins of zuppa inglese are uncertain. One theory states that it originated in the sixteenth-century kitchens of the Dukes of Este, the rulers of Ferrara. According to this story, they asked their cooks to recreate the sumptuous "English trifle" they had enjoyed in England at the Elizabethan court, where they were frequent visitors.
This rich dessert was among the many tributes bestowed on Lord Nelson by the grateful Neapolitans after his victory over Napoleon in the Nile in 1798. "English Soup", as it was called, was the creation of an anonymous pastry cook smitten with the admiral, the English, and their spirit-soaked Trifles.
It is said that the dessert was born in the sixteenth century at the court of the Estensi, as a reworking of the English trifle – hence the name.
According to another thesis, Zuppa Inglese was born in the nineteenth century in Tuscany, thanks to the housekeeper of an English family living in Florence. The woman would have prepared a "soup" with the leftover biscuits softened in sweet wine, adding custard and chocolate pudding.
The court’s benefactor at the time was Vincenzo Agnoletti from Rome – who, perhaps under the influence of the old Tuscan-Emilian Renaissance recipes, developed the first Zuppa Inglese, where rum (the typical liqueur of English sailors), appeared among the ingredients.
Ingredients:
Doses for a container of about 20×25 cm (10×10 inch) or 6 single-portion glasses
4 medium egg yolks
100 g (1/2 cup) of granulated sugar
60 g (4 tablespoons) of all purpose flour
1/2 liter (2 cups) of whole fresh milk
30 g (2 tablespoons) of unsweetened cocoa powder
About 18 ladiesfingers
250 ml (1 cup) of Alchermes
a famous Italian liqueur for pastry
with a spicy taste and an unmistakable red color
You don’t need any special equipment to make Zuppa Inglese. It’s a really easy-to-make recipe. Anyway, a whisk can be very useful to avoid lumps in the pastry cream and a pastry bag, if you decide to make Savoiardi at home.
The most important characteristic of the Italian Trifle, are the beautiful colored layers. For this reason it’s better to use transparent containers that show the layers of cream and the red of the Alchermes.
In a saucepan mix the egg yolks with the sugar, using a wooden spoon. Then add the sifted flour, a little bit at a time. Keep stirring for about 5 minutes, until the mixture is blended. Then set aside.
Heat the milk and bring it almost to a boil. Then remove it from the heat and start pouring slowly into the mixture of sugar, eggs and flour. It’s important to mix constantly. Put on low heat and cook, always stirring, for another 3-4 minutes. When the pastry cream is well thickened, pour it immediately into a cold container. Italian Crema pasticcera is ready!
Set aside about 1/3 of pastry cream in another cup. Then add the unsweetened cocoa powder and mix well. The chocolate cream for our Italian Trifle is ready!
Pour the Alchermes into a bowl and dip quickly the ladyfingers on both sides. Don’t moisten the ladyfingers too much and place them at the bottom of a glass pan or a trifle bowl. Cover with pastry cream. Now add another layer of liqueur-soaked ladyfingers. Add a layer of chocolate cream. Then make another layer of soaked ladyfingers. Finally, cover the last layer with Pastry Cream. Traditional Zuppa Inglese is ready! Refrigerate before serving.