Italian Sweet Cream Cake
You have probably noticed that I don’t post a lot about sweets. I don’t do much baking. I can if I need to, but it isn’t really my favorite. Zuccotto (Italian Sweet Cream Cake) is the best kind of dessert because doesn’t require baking. Since your are now scratching your head about what this mysterious Italian cake is exactly and why I didn’t have to bake a cake; let me explain. Zuccotto is pound cake or other sweet cake cut into pieces and molded into a bowl and filled with delicious sweet, chocolate almond cream. When it is turned out, it is supposed to look like Il Duomo, the famous cathedral in Florence. Theoretically, you could bake your own pound cake if you are of a mind to do so, but I always just buy mine, and no one is the wiser. Having the cream filled beauty stand on its own, is an impressive enough feat.
Il Duomo: The Cathedral of Florence
Zuccotto Italian Sweet Cream Cake turned and ready to be cut.
Zuccotto: Italian Sweet Cream Cake
Ingredients
- 2 Pound Cakes
- 1 Pint Whipping Cream
- 1 C. Semi-Sweet Chocolate chips
- 1/4 C. Amaretto
- 1/2 C. Almond slices
- 1/2 C. Sugar
- 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/2 Tsp Almonds Extract
- 1/4 C. Powdered sugar
- 2 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
Instructions
- Prepare a 10" mixing bowl, by lining with plastic wrap. Leave some excess hanging over the edge.
- Slice pound cakes into 1/4" slices, and then cut squares on the diagonal.
- Brush each piece with a small amount of amaretto.
- Line the bowl with pound cake, fitting the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.
- Press the pieces together gently to fill any cracks. You should use about 2/3 of the pound cake. The remaining is for the top of the bowl and the base of your dome.
- Make your filling by whipping your whipped cream with vanilla extract, almond extract and sugar. Mix it until you have stiff peaks.
- Melt the chocolate chips in the microwave. First for 1 min, and then 30 seconds after that, stiring in between until the chocolate is good and melted.
- Fold the chocolate into the cream.
- Spread a small amount of cream around the inside of your bowl, lightly covering your pound cake layer.
- Then sprinkle the inner layer with almonds slices.
- Fill the bowl with the remainder of the cream.
- Use the remaining pound cake to cover the cream and seal your bowl.
- Refrigerate for 1 hour.
- Turn cake out onto a platter, and dust with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.
This Zuccotto Italian cream cake sounds incredibly delicious, and I am looking forward to making one. However, I am having a difficult time trying to get pass the thought of properly slicing it so that each slice will stay intact. Should i freeze it until it is firm?
You should put it in the fridge until you serve it. If you whip the cream until stiff peaks form and serve chilled, it should all come out in one piece. Once the fork goes in it will squish out some, but that’s just fun!