For last month’s cookbook club, we dove into Marcella Hazan’s iconic Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking and omg did we eat well! It also gave me the perfect excuse to finally make her Diplomatico (Chocolate Dessert with Rum and Coffee). If you’ve never heard of this dreamy Italian dessert, you’re not alone – I hadn’t either until one of you mentioned it was one of your favorites from the book.
It’s made up of three simple components, each delicious on its own, but together they add up to one epic treat. First up: slices of store-bought pound cake, briefly soaked in a boozy coffee-rum mixture. These become the base and walls of a loaf pan lined with cheesecloth, forming a little cake box. Then comes a luscious semi-sweet chocolate mousse – silky, rich, and just the right amount of sweet – poured inside. A final layer of cake seals it all in before the whole thing chills for 24 hours.
Once set, you unmold it, cover the whole thing in a generous amount of lightly sweetened whipped cream, and top it with fresh berries for a pop of color and brightness. A true showstopper! The whipped cream keeps things light, the mousse is rich and velvety, and the soaked pound cake a soft, boozy dream. This has me questioning why tiramisu get’s ALL the love!
Book: Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, page 577
Rating: 5/5
How Easy Is That: Intermediate
Store-Bought Is Fine: pound cake
Pricey Ingredients: —
Hard-to-find: —
Recipe on page780, here.
The full Cookbook Club Menu:
- Rice and Smothered Cabbage Soup
- Layered Crespelle with Tomatoes, Prosciutto and Cheese
- Ossobuco
- Risotto with Clams
- Bolognese
- Tomato Sauce with Onions and Butter
- Amatriciana Sauce
- Mushroom, Ham & Cream Sauce with Green Pasta
- Diplomatico
- Pisciotta-Olive Oil Cake
