Zuccotto

Ingredients for 12 servings:

• 5 eggs
• 80 g sugar
• 1 packet of vanilla sugar
• 50 g cornstarch
• 50 g flour
• 100 g hazelnuts
• 100 g almond(s), peeled
• 150 g dark chocolate
• 4 cups of cream
• 50 g powdered sugar
• 1 meringue(s)
• 1 tbsp cognac or brandy
• 1 tbsp Amaretto
• powdered sugar
• Cocoa powder

Instructions

Working time approx. 1 hour; Rest time approx. 12 hours; Total time approx. 13 hours

Italian dome-shaped dessert

For the sponge cake, beat the egg whites lightly, add the sugar, and beat until stiff. Fold in the egg yolks, mix the flour and cornstarch, sift them over the cake, and fold them in. Bake a sponge cake base with the largest possible diameter (I have an adjustable cake ring that I set at 32 cm). Let it cool and then cut it in half. For the filling, roughly chop the almonds and nuts and toast them in a dry pan (or in the microwave, that works just fine), and let it cool. Grate the chocolate and crumble the meringue. Whip the cream with the sugar until stiff, then fold in the almonds, nuts, chocolate, and meringue. Line a dome-shaped baking dish (or a suitable bowl) with one half of the sponge cake, soak it in Amaretto and cognac. Add the filling, cut the base to size, and place it on top. Let it set in the refrigerator, preferably overnight. Just before serving, dust with cocoa and powdered sugar. Decorating tip: First, dust the zuccotto with powdered sugar and place a few strips of paper crisscrossing over it. Then dust with cocoa powder again.