A rich alcoholic cake from Florence.

A Zuccotto is Tuscan dialect for a cardinal's skull cap and perhaps this dish was originally prepared to honor a guest at a marital festival during the Renaissance.

We did look for a recipe for 'semi freddo' having enjoyed it at a wedding in Bologna. If we come across one it will be posted here in the future.

ingredients

50g prepared almonds, 50g shelled hazelnuts, 300g Madeira cake, 3 tablespoons of cognac, 2 tablespoons maraschino liqueur, 2 tablespoons Cointreau, 140g semi sweet chocolate, 500ml whipping cream

making it

Place the almonds on a baking sheet inside a preheated oven. When brown remove and chop up. Do the same for the hazelnuts.

Line a glass bowl with a moistened cheesecloth. Around the sides of the inside of the bowl arrange chopped up pieces of the Madeira cake, making sure they have been soaked in a mixture of the cognac, maraschino and Cointreau.

Do remember to chop the cake pieces into wedge shapes and line the bowl with the points downwards forming a dome shape.

Fill any gaps with moist cake crumbs.

Break up half of the chocolate into small pieces. Add them to the whipped whipping cream which has been previously sitting in the fridge. Then add the nuts. Line the cake in the bowl with the creamy mixture, leaving a hole in the middle.

Melt some chocolate and mix it with some left over cream. Pour this into the hole.

Seal the inside of the 'dome' with more cake pieces, making sure all the moist cake pieces sit tightly together.

Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge overnight. If all goes well, tun out the cake and peel off the cheesecake.

A round of applause. Brava!