PEACH AND LIMONCELLO CUSTARD CAKE

Dessert - Vegetarian - Can be lactose free (READ footnotes)

Last week Rita, a friend from Italy, and her family landed to leave a year here in Reno. So, since she landed on her birthday, we decided that cooking for her (them, actually) could have been a nice present. Given the heatwave in Reno, I prepared panzanella (video), tuna stuffed eggs (video), mixed vegetables from our garden (video), salad from our garden, cheese, salami, olives, bread and, of course, dessert: everything was cold. The mixed veggies and the panzanella were prepared the day before, as well as the dessert which, like tiramisu`, needed to be prepared the day before. Click on the links to see the recipes of the other dishes.

2/5 package ladyfingers (about 24 ladyfingers)
1 big ripe peach
Juice of 1 lemon
Red fruit juice
3 oz crunchy Italian amaretti cookies

For the custard:
3 eggs
3 spoons full of sugar
3 spoons full of Italian 00 flour
1/2 cup limoncello
2 1/2 cup milk
grated zest of 1 lemon



First of all, prepare the custard. Warm up milk with limoncello.

In a saucepan, mix sugar, flour and lemon zest, then add eggs and whisk to prevent lumps.

On medium heat add the warm milk/limoncello in a thin stream, mixing and bring to boil, whisking continuously.

It will take about 5-8 minutes (the warmer the milk, the quicker the cooking).

Never stop stirring, otherwise your custard will stick to the bottom and burn, giving it an unpleasant taste. Sprinkle a little sugar on top, so it won't form the "film" on top of your custard; let it cool down to room temperature.

Peel peach and cut it in small pieces, mix with lemon juice and set aside.

Crumble amaretti cookies.

When custard is at room temperature, drain peaches from juice and add to the custard.

Quickly dip ladyfingers in the juice, and line the bottom of an 8"x8" deep serving dish; pour half of the custard; repeat with ladyfingers and custard.

Cover with lid, if there is one, or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Just before serving, sprinkle with the crumbled amaretti.

(and the rest of the meal ;-) )

- I used Alchermes, a deep red dessert liqueur (diluted with some milk) to dip ladyfingers. You can also use diluted pomegranate (or grenadine) syrup to dip them.
- As said, this dessert needs to be prepared the day before, so ladyfingers will soften.
- If you use a non-dairy milk, it will be lactose free, as long as you use dairy-free amaretti and ladyfingers (like the ones we sell).
- It is vegetarian.
- The mixed vegetables recipe linked above has a few more ingredients, but the process is exactly the same