Daily Excerpt from Diary of a Tuscan Chef!

Today's excerpt from Diary of a Tuscan Chef is the recipe for Zuccotto, which is a dessert very much like semifreddo. Try this delicious Tuscan desert as a sweet way to end any meal!

Zuccotto

A zucchetto in Italian is a skullcap. This dessert is called zuccotto because it’s shaped like the Duomo in Florence, but you can also make the parfait in layers in a cake pan. The ingredients are similar to those found in semifreddo: In fact, zuccotto was probably the first semifreddo, a precursor of gelato. Though Catherine de Medicis is credited with bringing sorbet with her to France, what she probably served was semifreddo.

Serves 4-6

½ (12-ounce) sponge cake, cut into ½ - inch-thick slices (any spongy, non-frosted cake will do here)

1 1/8 cups heavy cream

1 18 cups fresh ricotta

½ cup chopped toasted hazelnuts

½ cup chopped toasted almonds

¼ cup chopped candied fruit

6-8 tablespoons sugar, or more to taste

3 tablespoons sweet liqueur (Benedictine, framboise, Grand Marnier)

1 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped fine

2 ½ teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder

Completely line a deep, 1 ½ -quart bowl with the sponge cake. With an electric mixer, beat the cream on medium-high until it begins to thicken, then lower the speed and continue beating until it is thick and glossy. In a separate bowl, mix the ricotta on medium speed for 3 minutes, until it is smooth. Combine the whipped cream with the ricotta. Incorporate half the chopped nuts and all of the candied fruit, blending well. Add sugar to taste and mix well.

Drizzle the liqueur over the sponge cake. Spread half the whipped cream and ricotta mixture in a 2-inch-thick layer of the sponge cake. There will be a well in the middle.

Mix the remaining whipped cream ricotta mixture with the chopped chocolate and the cocoa powder until it is well blended. Spoon the chocolate whipped cream ricotta mixture into the center of the zuccotto and sprinkle the top with the remaining chopped nuts. Place the zuccotto in the freezer until it is firm, about 6 hours.

Fifteen minutes before serving the zuccotto, remove it from the freezer. Invert the bowl onto a plate so the zuccotto drops out. Cut into wedges and serve.