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Rachel Roddy’s recipe for zuccotto, or sponge pudding filled with ricotta, cream, candied fruit and nuts | A kitchen in Rome
Its colourful origins are mysterious, but for centuries Italy has enjoyed this treat filled with ricotta, cream, candied fruit and nuts
There are, of course, legends about zuccotto, the dome-shaped, ricotta-filled sponge pudding. One is that Bernardo Buontalenti, the architect who designed ice houses for the Medici family, also designed for them a semifreddo pudding using a metal artillery helmet, or zuccotto, as a form. Another is that, because its shape and sponge (stained with alchermes liqueur) resemble an ecclesiastical zuccotto (scarlet skullcap), it was named after that. Or is it a sponge tribute to Florence’s duomo?
It hardly matters, even if nobody really believes it – the narrative is so attractive that it satisfies in any case. I do like the legend about Buontalenti, though: architect, theatrical designer, military engineer and the man credited with inventing Italian gelato. Where was he when he had the stroke of genius for using a metal helmet as a mould for a frozen cream pudding?
UK readers: click to buy these ingredients from Ocado
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