ZUPPA INGLESE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375°F.
• In a large bowl, beat egg yolks and sugar until lemon colored.
• Add flour a little at a time, mixing well.
• Add vanilla and lemon rind, mix well.
• In a large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff but not dry.
• Fold egg whites into cake mixture.
• Pour cake batter into prepared pan.
• Bake at 375°F for about 40 minutes.
• Cake should be a golden brown and spring back when lightly touched.
• Remove cake from oven, turn cake onto a rack to cool.
• ----Pasticciera Cream----.
• In a 1 quart sauce pan, combine the sugar, egg yolks, flour, lemon rind, and vanilla and mix together well.
• In a second sauce pan, scald milk.
• Pour scalded milk over the egg yolk mixture, beating constantly with a rotary beater.
• Cook egg/milk mixture on low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture reaches the boiling point.
• Cook 4 minutes longer, stirring constantly.
• Remove from heat, add butter and mix well.
• Pour cream into a bowl and let cool, stir it occasionally to prevent a skin from forming over the top.
• ---Fora Chocolate Pasticciera Cream---.
• Follow above recipe for pasticciera cream, omitting lemon rind.
• Add grated chocolate to cooked pasticciera cream and cook 1 minute longer, stirring constantly, until chocolate is blended in well.
• Cool as in above directions.
• ----ZuppaInglese-----.
• Cut sponge cake into half inch slices.
• Sprinkle half the slices with rum, and the other half with creme de cacao.
• Spread the bottom of a 10 inch oven proof dish with a little of the pasticciera cream.
• Place 2 layers of the rum soaked cake slices on top of the cream.
• Pour remaining pasticcera cream over the cake slices.
• Sprinkle the candied fruit over the cream layer.
• Cover the cream/candied fruit layer with 2 layers of the creme de cacao soaked cake slices.
• In a medium sized bowl, beat egg whites until stiff.
• Add sugar to beaten whites, and beat again (to dissolve sugar).
• Pile the beaten egg whites on top of the cake.
• Bake in a slow (300°F) oven for 20 minutes.
• Cool before serving.
• Refrigerate any leftovers.