Biba's Northern Italian Cooking - Biba Caggiano [82]
Fresh strawberries and/or grated chocolate
Prepare Fruit Salad: Combine fresh fruit, candied fruit, rum and sugar in a medium bowl. Refrigerate until ready to use or up to several hours ahead.
Prepare Hot Zabaglione, using rum. Remove from heat and set pan or bowl containing mixture over a bowl full of ice water. Stir with a whisk until mixture is warm.Whip cream and fold it into warm mixture. Zabaglione can be prepared several hours ahead and set over a bowl of ice water until needed.
Arrange slices of pound cake in a large glass bowl. Sprinkle a little rum over each slice. Cover cake with a layer of Fruit Salad. Cover Fruit Salad with a generous amount of Zabaglione.
Continue layers until bowl is filled. Refrigerate overnight. Before serving, decorate with fresh strawberries and/or grated chocolate. Serve chilled.
MARIA ANGELA’S MERINGUE CAKE
Dolce di Maria Angela
This is a family favorite from my good friend Maria Angela di Massa.
MAKES 6 TO 8 SERVINGS
Meringues
4 egg whites, at room temperature
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
Coffee Zabaglione
5 egg yolks
1 cup sugar
¼ cup espresso coffee or strong regular coffee, at room temperature
1 cup sweet butter, at room temperature
Candied violets
Prepare Meringues: Preheat oven to 275F (135C). Butter and flour 2 cookie sheets. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff. Beat in 6 tablespoons of the sugar, 1 tablespoon at a time. Beat in vanilla and vinegar.Add remaining sugar, beating until egg whites are very stiff and shiny. Put egg white mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tube. Pipe mixture in small mounds onto prepared cookie sheets or shape into mounds using 2 spoons. Bake 1 hour. Turn off oven. Leave meringues in oven overnight with door closed. Store meringues in an airtight container. Meringues can be stored several weeks. Makes about 25 meringues.
Prepare Coffee Zabaglione: In a large bowl or the top part of a double boiler, beat egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Set bowl or top part of double boiler over simmering water; do not let water boil. Gradually add coffee, beating constantly. Continue beating until Zabaglione has doubled in volume and is soft and fluffy, 4 to 6 minutes. Remove from heat and set pan or bowl over a bowl full of ice water. Stir with a whisk until mixture is cool.
Cream butter in a large bowl until pale and fluffy. Gradually add cooled Zabaglione to butter, beating vigorously after each addition. Refrigerate 2 to 3 minutes to stiffen slightly.
On a large round platter, arrange about 8 meringues close together in a circle. Put Zabaglione mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a medium star tube. Pipe rosettes between meringues. Arrange another layer of meringues over the first, forming a smaller circle. Pipe rosettes of Zabaglione mixture between meringues. Repeat layers using remaining meringues and most of Zabaglione mixture to make a cone-shaped mound. Decorate cake with candied violets and remaining Zabaglione mixture. Refrigerate overnight. Let cake stand 30 minutes at room temperature before serving.
Seasonal Menus
One problem that confronts someone serving ethnic food for the first time is how to compose the menu. So many of my students ask me the same question:“I am planning a dinner party and I would like to make tortellini with cream sauce.What appetizer should I have and what dessert should I serve?”
The success of a meal depends not only on how well the food is prepared but also on how the menu is put together. In a way it is like listening to a beautiful piece of music. Each note can be played perfectly but the overall beauty of the sound depends on the way the notes are put together. To prepare a beautiful meal you must start by planning a beautiful menu: A menu in which each dish complements the other. One that takes advantage of seasonal ingredients and suits the mood of the time of year.
An Italian meal moves through its many courses in a leisurely and orderly sequence.Wine is always present.The