Desserts & Baking

Tiramisu-style zuppa Inglese

6
Easy
30 minutes
45 minutes

Traditionally, this Italian dessert features liqueur-soaked sponge cake and pastry cream, layered like a trifle. It translates literally as 'English soup' – though it's neither soupy nor English! In this deconstructed version, pears poached in Amaretto yield a beautiful poaching liquid, which is poured over the simple sponge cake to create a beautiful pudding-y texture. A coffee-and-chocolate mascarpone adds a decadent twist, creating flavours reminiscent of a tiramisu.

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Ingredients

Method
  • 180 g flour
  • 1 t baking powder
  • ½ t bicarbonate of soda
  • 1 cup full-cream yoghurt
  • 150 g sugar
  • ½ cup sunflower oil
  • 1 t vanilla extract
  • For the vanilla-poached pears:

  • 4 pears, halved lengthways
  • 4 T brown sugar
  • 2 T honey
  • 2 t vanilla paste
  • 1 cup apple juice
  • 1 cup Amaretto or sherry
  • For the coffee-chocolate crema, mix:

  • 100 g chocolate, melted
  • 4 T espresso
  • 150 g mascarpone

Method

Ingredients

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Grease a 20 cm bundt or round cake tin. Sift the dry ingredients into a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat the remaining ingredients together for 7 minutes.

2. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet. Spoon into the cake tin and bake for 40 minutes.

3. Remove the cake from the tin and place on a plate. Prick with a fork and spoon over some of the pear poaching liquid.

4. To make the poached pears, place all the ingredients into a saucepan and simmer for 30 minutes. Remove the pears and simmer the syrup until slightly reduced.

5. Serve the cake with the coffee-chocolate crema and pears.

Cook's note: “This is my take on this classic and plays with the different flavours of coffee and chocolate."

Find more sweet treat recipe.

Photograph: Jan Ras
Food assistant: Bianca Strydom

Abigail Donnelly

Recipe by: Abigail Donnelly

Nothing excites Woolworths TASTE's Food Director quite as much as the challenge of dreaming up recipes with innovative new foods – or the thrill of creating deliciousness on a plate with the humblest of ingredients. With Abi by your side, you’ll be a cooking expert in no time at all.

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