The zuppa inglese, despite the name may mislead, is a sweet of Italian origin particularly common in our areas.
The most accredited thesis, traces its origins back to the Renaissance when an Italian diplomat, returning from London, asked the cooks of the court of the Dukes of Este to prepare a trifle, a typical English dessert tasted in England.
Attempting to reproduce it, the cooks substituted some ingredients: the sponge cake replaced the English leavened dough, the custard replaced the cream and, later on, some very colourful ingredients were introduced to make the preparation lively to the eye: Alchermes, a perfumed liqueur with a bright red colour in which the sponge cake was dipped, and cocoa, which was used to create a contrast with the custard.
Mentioned by Artusi in his work "Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well", this spoon dessert is made up of overlapping layers of sponge cake or ladyfingers soaked in liqueurs (the most commonly used is Alchermes) alternating with custard.
