Candida
Martinelli's Italophile Site
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I dolci al cucchiaio literally means 'sweets by
spoon' and is a
generic name for desserts that have different names in the various
Italian regions: zuppe inglesi, bavaresi, ciarlotte...
but they are all eaten with spoons. Here, for spoonbread, I
mean:
Cake
or Lady Finger cookies (also called Savoiardi or Boudoirs, these are
hard until put in liquid when they turn to cake), quickly
soaked in juice, or coffee, or alcohol, or a combination of
them, layered
between pastry cream or pudding, and
depending on the recipe and your tastes, layered with jam, fruit, or
ground nuts. Then
it sits for a few hours to a few days in the fridge so the
cake/cookies can soak up the liquid and flavors, and the whole thing
sets. It’s
a dessert you can prepare days in advance of serving, taking
pressure off the cook. It’s
a cool, refreshing dessert served straight from the fridge. If
you prepare it in a tall, glass dish or in individual glasses,
it’s a very chic-looking dessert. It’s
beautiful scooped out into balls, with an ice-cream scooper, and
served up on a dessert dish. You
don’t need to slave over a hot stove to make it; you can use a
purchased cake, pudding, and whipped cream. If
you line the dish with cling-film, it’s easy to remove and set on
a serving platter, then you can decorate it with whipped cream,
fruit, flowers… Make
it in a pie pan for easy slicing and serving, and it looks
beautiful, too. And
you can make it low calorie, low sugar, non-alcoholic--any way you
want, by choosing your ingredients carefully (the French use slices of
bread, for example). Coffee
Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in coffee and/or coffee liqueur,
layered between pastry cream/pudding, served covered with whipped cream
dusted with powdered chocolate (sprinkled through a sieve or sifter) or
fresh coffee grounds. Irish
Coffee Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in coffee mixed with whiskey,
layered between pastry cream/pudding, served covered with whipped cream
sprinkled with fresh coffee grounds. Fruit
Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in fruit juice (and Brandy or Rum
or fruit liqueur if you want), layered between pastry cream/pudding and
sliced fruit (or jam), served covered with whipped cream and topped with
sliced fruit. Nut
Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in a nut liqueur or whiskey,
layered between pastry cream/pudding and ground nuts, served covered
with whipped cream and topped with whole nuts. Chocolate
- Orange Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in orange juice and/or orange
liqueur, layered between chocolate pastry cream/pudding (and orange
marmalade or chopped oranges if you want), served covered with whipped
cream decorated with chocolate shavings (the potato peeler has many
functions!). Soft
Summer Fruits (Berry) Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in berry juice (and Rum or Brandy
or a fruit liqueur if your want), layered between pastry cream/pudding
and berries (or berry jam), served covered with whipped cream and topped
with fresh berries. Mocha
Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in coffee and/or a coffee
liqueur, layered between chocolate pastry cream/pudding, served covered
with whipped cream decorated with chocolate shavings (or dusted with
powered chocolate, or sprinkled with fresh coffee grounds).
Lemon Spoonbread: sliced
cake/Lady Fingers dipped in lemon juice or lemonade (and a lemon liqueur if you want), layered
between pastry cream/pudding (and grated lemon peel if you want), served
covered with whipped cream decorated with lemon peel shavings (that
potato peeler, again).
Some Related Links The Cucina Con Me site, in Italian, offers a
long list
of Dessert al cucchiaio. Delia Smith is the top selling and most popular chef
in Britain. This link
is to her website listing of her favorite Italian desserts.
She offers great photos and easy to follow instructions, as well as
lots of cooking tips. Some of my other Sweets pages
A traditional murder-mystery by Candida Martinelli
Candida has written a satisfying and entertaining country-house cozy-murder-mystery with lovely
Tuscan sights, Italian love interests, mysteries, laughs and tugs on the
heartstrings. It is in the style of Agatha Christie and the Jessica Fletcher mystery
novels, a light touch with little gore or violence, lots of fun characters and a
satisfying romance. It is available via Amazon.com as a paperback and a
Kindle ebook. For more about the book and the author, and for direct links
to Amazon.com's pages for the book, or to read
the first 6 Chapters (of 40 chapters), visit the
book's page on this website.
This is a
hobby-site.
Any purchases made via my
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or the links to
Amazon.com, AllPosters.com, Art.com,
some product links,
and my site shops with
Anything left over, I spend on
pasta! ;-) Grazie mille!
Candida
Martinelli Established
July
2003 Food Objects
Capodimonte & Richard Ginori Porcelain Drinks
Beauty & Romance
Zabaione,
A Saint's Recipe Men Love
Desserts Theatre
Photos and
Cities Music
Borbottoni's Old Florence Scenes
Edith Wharton's Della Robbia Terracottas
Florence and Tuscany Cinema Italy Today Art Rome Paintings with short story Venice
Diaspora
London's Italians and Barometers John, Italian
Emigrant, by D. H. Lawrence Rome Books Set in
Italy
An Extra Virgin Pressing Murder
Humor and Games
Special Books
For Children
Free PDF Books
Agatha Christie's
First Poirot Story
Children's
Books, CDs, Games, Treats Children's Books History
Age of Colonialism, Capitalism, Reason, Industrial Revolution
Post
War Growth and European Integration Catholic Prayers
in Italian / English Christmas
Story in Italian and English
Carnival (Halloween and Commedia) Costumes
Holidays Lessons
Guestbook and Contact SOME LINKS TO GOODIES...
A non-Italy article by Candida:
A book that helped keep WWII soldiers sane and
humane
A non-Italy
offer: Nerja, Spain Beachfront
Apartment to Rent

Viva Italia
Masterprint
AllPosters.com
Spoonbreads
or
I dolci al cucchiaio


Some
Points About Spoonbread
Here
are Some Tasty Spoonbread Recipe Suggestions
Whiskey
- Orange Spoonbread:
sliced cake/Lady Fingers dipped in orange juice mixed with
whiskey, layered between pastry cream/pudding (and orange marmalade or
chopped oranges if you want), served covered with whipped cream
decorated with orange peel shavings (a potato peeler works wonderfully
for this).
An Extra Virgin Pressing Murder

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