Pellegrino Artusi left a distinct mark on all aspects of Italian cuisine, including dessert. Here's our interpretation of four recipes found in his epic cookbook La scienza in cucina e l’arte di mangiar bene (Science in the Kitchen and the Art of Eating Well) published in 1891, along with what the master himself had to say about these desserts. Pasta Margherita Pasta Margherita, Photo: Riccardo LettieriServes 4-6
Skill Level Easy
Time 1 hour
VegetarianIngredients:
¾ cup potato starch
½ cup caster sugar
4 large eggs
1 lemon
powdered sugar
unsalted butter - saltMethod:
Preheat the oven to 350 °F.Beat the egg yolks very well with the sugar, then add the starch and the juice of the whole lemon and knead the mixture until it is smooth. Whip the egg whites to stiff peaks with a pinch of salt and incorporate them gently into the egg yolk mixture. Butter a 9″ cake pan, sprinkle it with starch and powdered sugar, and fill it with the mixture. Bake for 25 minutes.
Take the cake out of the oven and let it cool down before unmolding it. Serve with icing sugar, accompany it with custard or whipped cream or whipped cream and fruit in seasonGood to know: This pastry has the effect of a soufflé. It swells in the oven and, once baked, it tends to sit. This imperfect aspect is its beauty and is compensated for by a very delicate flavor.
Artusi on Pasta Margherita:
"One day, my poor friend Antonio Mattei of Prato (...) ate this pasta in my home and wanted the recipe, and immediately (...), bringing it to a higher degree of perfection and reducing it to a very fine size, he put it on sale in his store. He then told me (...) that there was almost no lunch in the countryside for which it was not ordered."Torta coi Pinoli (Cake With Pine Nuts)Torta coi Pinoli, photo: Riccardo LettieriServes 6
Skill Level Medium
Time 1 hour and 40 minutes + 2 hours resting
VegetarianIngredients:For the shortcrust pastry
1¾ cup all-purpose flour
5 oz. unsalted butter
3 oz. sugar
1 large egg
Marsala wine
saltFor the pine nut cream
2½ cups milk
4 oz. semolina
⅓ cup sugar
3⅓ Tbsp. pine nuts
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 vanilla pod
saltMethod:For the shortcrust pastry
Mix the flour with the sugar and a pinch of salt; then mix with the butter in chunks until you obtain a sandy mixture. Knead it quickly with the egg and 1 Tbsp. Marsala. Shape the dough into a ball, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to rest for 2 hours.For the pine nut cream
Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and place it in the milk. Bring to a boil, sprinkle in the semolina and cook, stirring continuously, for 4-5 minutes. Remove from heat, discard the vanilla and add sugar, a pinch of salt, and butter. Mix well, then add 2⅔ Tbsp. chopped pine nuts. Let cool for 3-4 minutes, incorporate the eggs and let the cream cool.For the cake
Preheat the oven to 350 °F.
Roll out the shortcrust pastry to 3 mm of thickness and use part of it to line a low cake tin (9-10″). Stuff the cake with cold pine nut cream and spread the remaining pine nuts on top. Close with strips of shortcrust pastry arranged in a grid. Brush the shortcrust pastry with a little milk and bake the cake in the oven for 45-50 minutes.Artusi on Torta coi Pinoli:"This is a cake that some bakers sell like hotcakes. Those who are not familiar with such things will believe that a doctor of the Sorbonne invented it. I give it to you here imitated perfectly."Zuppa IngleseZuppa Ingelese, photo: Riccardo LettieriServes 4
Skills Easy
Time 30 minutes plus 4 hours cooling time
Vegetarian
Ingredients:2½ cups milk
9 oz. ladyfingers
9 oz. peach jam
3 oz. sugar
5⅓ Tbsp. cornstarch or flour
4 large yolks
1 vanilla pod
alchermesMethod:Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise. Place in the milk and warm it up. Mix the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the flour or starch and add to the milk and vanilla pod. Cook for a few minutes, stirring constantly until the cream begins to thicken. Let it cool.
Spread the jam in a large bowl and cover with a layer of cream. Dilute ½ cup alchermes with ¼ cup of water and quickly soak the ladyfingers. Spread them on the cream and continue alternating ladyfingers and cream, finishing with a layer of cream and, if desired, fresh fruit in pieces or slices. Let the zuppa inglese rest in the fridge for 4 hours before serving. It will keep in the fridge for up to three days.
Homemade Make your own light peach or apricot compote to use instead of jam. jam. Cook 1 lb. fruit with ⅔ cup sugar until the fruit begins to disintegrate and the consistency becomes thicker.
More softness Incorporate ¼ cup cream the now cold cream with ¼ cup whipped cream to obtain a softer consistency and more delicate flavor.Good to know: Even though its name translates to “English soup,” zuppa inglese is an Italian dessert. Some claim it's inspired by the English trifle, but there's no real evidence to back this up.Artusi on Zuppa Inglese: "In Tuscany - where (...) all foods are given the character of lightness and the imprint, where possible, of liquidity - cream is made very loose without starch or flour and served in coffee cups. Made in this way, it is true that it is more delicate, but it is not suitable for a trifle in the mould and does not make beauty"BabàBabà, photo: Riccardo LettieriServes 6
Skills For experts
Time 1 hour and 30 minutes + 3 hours rising
VegetarianIngredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
⅔ stick unsalted butter, cut in small pieces
¼ cup sugar
½ cup raisins
⅓ cup - 1 oz. candied fruit
1¼ Tbsp. beer yeast
2 large eggs - 1 large yolk
Marsala - rum or Cognac
saltMethod:
Soak the raisins in 2 Tbsp. Marsala. Crumble the yeast, mix it with ½ cup flour and knead with a little milk to obtain a fairly firm dough. Cut a cross in it and leave it to rise in a warm place for 30-40 minutes. Then mix the eggs and yolk with the sugar.
Mix (preferably in the mixer) the remaining flour with the risen dough, egg mixture, the remaining milk, the butter in pieces, 1 tsp. salt, 1 Tbsp. Marsala, and 1 of rum. Knead all the ingredients until you get a smooth and very soft dough that comes away from the bowl (it will take 5-8 minutes).
At the end incorporate the raisins, drained, and the candied fruit in small pieces. Grease a large fluted mold or small molds and distribute the dough – it should take up a little more than 1⁄3 of the capacity of the container. Cover with plastic wrap and let rise until the dough has risen to 1 cm below the edge of the mold (this will take about 2 hours and 30 minutes).
Bake the baba at 350 °F for 25-30 minutes, or 18 minutes for small molds. It will be cooked when it has a nice golden color. Remove the baba from the mold and let it cool on a wire rack. Serve it with powdered sugar or brush it quickly with a syrup prepared as follows: heat 1 cup water with ⅔ cup sugar until it is completely dissolved. Once warm, add 4 Tbsp. rum.Artusi on Babà"This is a dessert that wants to see the person's face, meaning it requires patience and attention to succeed."Recipe: Joëlle Néderlants
Photography: Riccardo Lettieri
Styling: Beatrice Prada
The Art of “Desserting” Well
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