Florentine Zuccotto

10 oz Cake or lady fingers

-(can use a cake (up -to 12 oz), such as -pound cake or sponge -cake. If you make a -sponge cake, a 6-egg -cake is about right) 3 T Sugar, powdered (or more

-or less, to taste) 3 c Whipping cream

1/4 c Spirits (rum, amaretto

-or whatever you like; -see below for quantity) Assorted flavorings -(chocolate, nuts, coffee, -liqueurs, extracts...) 2 t Gelatin, unflavored

-(optional) Line a large hemispherical bowl with the cake or lady fingers. If you use cake, cut slices in half diagonally to make large triangles and arrange them in a sunburst pattern. If you use lady fingers, cut some in half diagonally and arrange in a flower-like pattern. Douse generously with spirits; cake should be quite wet but not soggy. Dissolve the gelatin in 2 tablespoons hot water in a cup; place the cup in a bowl of very hot water so the gelatin melts. Check occasionally to make sure the surrounding water stays hot. (I suppose you could use a microwave for this, but I`ve never tried.) Divide the cream into two very cold bowls. Whip each until stiff; if the flavoring for either half isn`t sweet, add powdered sugar to taste at this point. Beat the dissolved gelatin into the cream. Flavor each half separately. Spread one half around the inside of the cake-lined bowl; fill with the other half. Top with more cake and douse with more spirits. Since this part doesn`t show you don`t need to be creative. Cover with plastic wrap and chill overnight. Turn out onto a platter and garnish with chopped nuts, grated chocolate, or powdered sugar if desired. Cut into wedges; serves about 10-20 people depending. NOTES: * Ladyfingers with cream and rum -- This makes a great dessert for a party. It only takes about an hour to make (more if you bake a cake yourself instead of buying one) and only requires a few seconds to get ready when served. Yield: Serves 10-20. * The most recent zuccotto I made used rum to flavor the lady fingers. The first filling had powdered sugar, vanilla extract and about 1 1/2 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate. The second had about 5 oz melted semi-sweet chocolate mixed with about 2 t instant coffee dissolved in a little boiling water, and another 1 1/2 oz chopped semi-sweet chocolate. (Just chop 3 of the squares of chocolate and melt the other 5). Chopped hazelnuts or almonds are also quite good. * You can make a smaller one by using less, of course! : Difficulty: moderate. : Time: 60 minutes preparation, overnight cooling. : Precision: no need to measure. : paul asente : decwrl!glacier!cascade!asente [email protected] : Is there a center for someone who feels he never knows what`s going on? : -C. Brown : Copyright (C) 1986 USENET Community Trust