Our section Cooking Neapolitan today wants to explain how to prepare the famous Neapolitan Zuppetta, also called Diplomatic
The exquisite "Neapolitan soup" (or Diplomatica) was born in Naples when the sweet recipes and the ingredients used were still limited.
In short, it is one of the very first sweets of Neapolitan tradition of confectionery and it is today one of the classic Sunday sweets.
As usual, each recipe has its variants and its improvements over time.
The pastry, for example, was initially made with lard and butter, while only two eggs were used for the sponge cake.
Ingredients
With these doses you will get a sweet from which you will get around 20 zuppette.
- Puff pastry: 250 gr of flour, 160 ml of cold water, 250 gr of butter
- Sponge cake: 150 gr of flour, 70 gr of potato starch, 6 eggs, 300 gr of powdered sugar, 1 lemon.
- Pastry cream: ½ lt of milk, 6 egg yolks, 250 gr of sugar, 50 gr of flour, a sachet of vanillin, a pinch of salt
- Cherries in Syrup
- Icing sugar
- Bagna: rhum, water, sugar to taste
Preparation
Puff pastry
Take the stick of butter out of the fridge so that it is softened for the next use.
Place the flour in a fountain and add the cold water little by little. Knead it all for at least 10 minutes and get a little cake to be engraved crosswise above.
Let the dough rest for about twenty minutes in the fridge.
Take it out of the fridge and start rolling it out with a rolling pin to obtain an elongated rhombus shape.
Place the softened butter cake in the center and close it inside the dough (first the side edges and then the upper and lower ones).
Beat with a rolling pin with movements from the center upwards and from the center downwards to obtain an elongated shape of the dough. Fold the dough on itself taking the outer edges and bringing them to the center and then back on itself.
Turn it 90 ° and roll out the dough and fold it into 3 parts.
Repeat this last procedure. Refrigerate for half an hour and make the dough folding and spreading process one last time. Roll out the dough making two sheets of rectangular shape, sprinkle with sugar and cook in preheated oven at 180 ° for about half an hour.
The sponge cake
Add the egg yolks and sugar, working them until you get a frothy compote. Gradually add the sifted flour and starch. Beat the egg whites until stiff with a pinch of salt and the grated rind of a lemon. Stir gently into the mixture, stirring from bottom to top. Pour into a rectangular pan previously greased and floured and cook at 180 ° for about half an hour.
The Pasticciera cream
Pour the milk into a saucepan and bring to a simmer. In a saucepan mix the egg yolks and sugar and work well with a whisk until they become frothy. Stir in the sieved flour making sure that no lumps are formed, add a pinch of salt and place on the heat at moderate heat. Continue to beat with a whisk and pour the hot milk a little at a time. When the cream has thickened, remove from heat, pour into a bowl and let it cool with a layer of transparent paper in contact with the cream to prevent the formation of a film.
Wet the cake
Mix the rum with water and sugar for the bagna.
Dial the soup
Cut the sponge cake into two slices about 1,5 cm thick and remove the edges. Put a first puff on the tray intended to hold the soup, then roll out a layer of custard and the sour cherries scattered together with part of the syrup. Now place a layer of sponge cake and moisten with the rum bagna. Again the cream and the cherries and the second layer of sponge cake soaked in rum. Again cream and sour cherries and finally close with the second layer of puff pastry.
Let it rest for at least three hours. Just before consuming them sprinkle with powdered sugar and cut into squares of 6 cm.
