Zuppa Inglese · Zuppa Inglese alla Bolognese
Emilia-Romagna · dolce · serves 8 · 300 min total · medium
Despite the name ("English soup"), this is pure Emilian — born in the 16th-century Este court of Ferrara, where confectioners deconstructed the English trifle. The signature ingredient is Alchermes, a crimson herbal liqueur from the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella in Florence, originally tinted with cochineal. Pellegrino Artusi codified it in 1891.
Ingredients
- 300 g savoiardi (ladyfingers) or pan di Spagna
- 1 L whole milk
- 6 yolks egg yolks
- 180 g sugar
- 60 g 00 flour
- 1 lemon lemon zest
- 80 g dark chocolate (70%)
- 150 ml Alchermes liqueur
- 80 ml rosolio or rum
Method
- Make crema pasticcera: warm the milk with lemon zest until just below a simmer. Whisk yolks with sugar and flour to a pale ribbon. Pour the hot milk through a sieve onto the yolks, whisking. Return to the pan, cook on low heat, stirring constantly, until thick — about 6 minutes.
- Divide the custard in two bowls. Into one, stir the chopped chocolate while still hot, until melted and glossy. Cover both with cling film touching the surface. Cool.
- Mix Alchermes with 3 tbsp water in one shallow bowl; rosolio (or rum) with 3 tbsp water in another. The Alchermes is the colour — bright crimson — and the soul of the dish.
- In a deep glass dish, lay a layer of savoiardi. Brush generously with the Alchermes — they should turn deep pink.
- Spread half of the yellow custard over. Add a second layer of biscuits brushed with rosolio. Spread the chocolate custard.
- Repeat: pink biscuits, yellow custard, plain biscuits, chocolate. Finish with a layer of custard on top.
- Refrigerate at least 4 hours, ideally overnight. The biscuits collapse into a soft, layered pudding — pink, yellow, and brown in cross-section.
- Spoon into bowls. Optional: a swipe of whipped cream on top.