Delizia al Limone

Delizia al limone is one of those desserts I can’t resist when I see it on a menu. Occasionally, I’ll spot it at the pastry counter of D’Angelo’s — an Italian specialty food store here in Princeton, N.J. But otherwise, it’s not easy to find, even at Italian restaurants in New York City. It’s such a regional dessert that even in Italy, you’re not likely to see it unless you’re in Naples or other towns in the Campania region of Italy, where lemon trees are as commonplace as a handsome ragazzo on a Vespa. I’ve been wanting to try for years to make it home but never got around to it until recently. Once you try it, you’ll see why it’s such a beloved dessert in Southern Italy — a sponge cake soaked with a limoncello syrup, stuffed with a lemon cream, then covered with a thinned-out drizzle of lemon cream. It’s so lemony and irresistible, but to be frank, it’s very laborious to make.

I followed a recipe on Manu’s Menu. You need to have these semi-spherical molds to achieve the proper look of the Delizie. This recipe made only enough for eight little “cakelets” — not nearly enough for all the work required, in my opinion. If I make it again (a big “if”), I would double the recipe for the sponge cakes.

I would also take a few shortcuts – like buying lemon curd rather than making it from scratch. Same goes for the lemon crema pasticcera. So much can go wrong as you’re making either of these two ingredients, including curdling (which didn’t happen to me, since I stood over the pot stirring constantly, but easily could have.) Instead, I would use a package of instant vanilla pudding, flavored with lemon juice and lemon peel, and add some homemade whipped cream to the pudding to create the lemon crema pasticcera.

There were so many steps to follow, so many bowls and pots to wash, that this recipe became a half-day project. Have I discouraged you completely? Well, I hope not, especially if you take the short cuts I suggested.

My friends in the weekly Italian chit-chat group loved these little lemon delights. If you’re like me and love lemon desserts, maybe you’ll give it a try. You’ll feel like you’re back in Capri – before the Coronavirus hit. Wash your hands and stay safe everyone.

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Delizia al Limone

Author: Manu’s Menu via Ciao Chow Linda

printable recipe here

Ingredients

• SPONGE (CAKE)
• 150 gms – 3 large eggs divided
• 90 gms – ½ cup granulated sugar
• 40 gms – 1 ½ oz. all-purpose flour
• 25 gms – 8 tsp cornstarch
• 25 gms – ¼ cup almond meal
• ½ lemon peel grated
• ½ vanilla pod
• 1 pinch salt
• LEMON CREAM
• 40 gms – 2 egg yolks
• 40 gms – 1 ½ oz. sugar
• 1 or 2 lemons
• 40 gms – 1 ½ oz. butter
• LEMON CREMA PASTICCERA
• 180 gms – ¾ cup milk
• 80 gms + 30 gms – 3 oz. + 1 oz. cream
• 80 gms – 4 egg yolks
• 60 gms – 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 15 gms – 5 tsp cornstarch
• 1 pinch salt
• 1 lemon
• 1/3 vanilla pod
• LIMONCELLO SYRUP
• 30 gms – 1 oz.water
• 30 gms – 1 oz. granulated sugar
• 50 gms – 1 ¾ oz. Limoncello
• ½ lemon
• GLAZE
• Remaining Lemon Cream
• Remaining Lemon Crema Pasticcera
• 60 gms – 1/3 cup milk
• 125 gms– ½ cup cream whipped and lightly sweetned
• 30 gms – 1 oz. Limoncello

Instructions

1. SPONGE (cake)
2. Beat the egg yolks with 40 gms – 1 ½ oz. of the sugar, grated lemon peel and scraped vanilla until pale and fluffy.
3. Add the almond meal and mix well.
4. In a separate bowl, beat the egg whites with the remaining sugar and a pinch of salt.
5. Mix together the cornstarch and flour and then sift it into the egg yolk mixture, alternating with additions of the beaten egg whites.
6. Make sure to fold these in gently, so as not to deflate them.
7. Grease and coat with flour some semisphere tins and fill them till ¾ with the batter.
8. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 170°C – 340°F for 15 minutes, or until cooked through.
9. When ready, unmould them and keep them on a wire rack to cool down.
10. LEMON CREAM
11. Grate the peel of the lemon and then juice it.
12. Put the grated peel in a bowl with the lemon juice and keep it to infuse for 20 minutes.
13. Beat the egg yolks and sugar until pale and then add 40 gms – 1 ½ oz. of the lemon juice and grated peel.
14. Keep mixing.
15. Put this mixture on a slow flame and cook it, while continuously stirring, until it reaches 80°C – 176°F.
16. Then remove from the fire and put the pot in a double boiler filled with cold water. Blend it with a stick mixer until smooth.
17. Let it cool down to 50°C – 122°F, then add the chopped butter and keep blending until smooth.
18. Cover it with cling wrap (make sure that the cling wrap touches the surface of the cream so a skin doesn’t form) and refrigerate it until completely cold.
19. LEMON CREMA PASTICCERA
20. In a pot put the milk, cream, lemon peel, and scraped vanilla bean and bring to a boil.
21. Then put the fire off, let it infuse for 1 hour and then filter it.
22. Beat the egg yolks with the sugar, cornstach and salt until pale.
23. Then slowly add the filtered milk.
24. Cook this mixture until it reaches 82°C – 180°F, then cover the cream with cling wrap (make sure that the cling wrap touches the surface of the cream so a skin doesn’t form) and refrigerate it until completely cold.
25. LIMONCELLO SYRUP
26. Dissolve the sugar in the water and add the lemon peel.
27. Bring to a boil and simmer for 1 minute. Put the fire off and let it get back to room temperature. Then filter it and add the Limoncello.
28. ASSEMBLING
29. Mix together the Lemon Cream and the Lemon Crema Pasticcera (make sure they are both cold). Add 30 gms – 1 oz. of Limoncello and 30 gms – 1 oz. of sweetened whipped cream and mix well.
30. Put this cream in a piping bag and fill the sponge cakes by making a little hole at the bottom (you can use a knife to make the hole and then pipe in the cream).
31. Try and fill them as much as possible. Reserve the remaining cream.
32. Using a toothpick, prick the sponges on all sides and brush them with the Limoncello syrup.
33. To the remaining cream, add 125 gms – ½ cup of sweetend whipped cream and 60 gms – 1/3 cup of milk to make the thick glaze.
34. Cover the delizie with the glaze and refrigerate for a couple of hours.
35. When ready to serve, decorate with some whipped cream and lemon zests.

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