Paolo presents the perfect Italian pud! - Liverpool Echo
Il Forno’s head chef Paolo Cillo cannot resist a traditional Italian pudding.
“No one does desserts like Italians!” he declares. “Whenever I go back to my home town of Potenza, in southern Italy, I just can’t say no to one of my mother’s delicious desserts!” adds the 25-year-old.
“Even when I go to a ‘caffe’ or ‘pasticceria’ in the centre, there are endless rows of chocolates, cakes and ice creams on display and it’s hard not to buy anything!”
Back in his Il Forno kitchen on Duke Street, with help from pastry chef, Constantino Ellinas (Tino), Paolo is making desserts such as Pizza Nutella, a nutty chocolate pizza, and Fondue di Cioccolato con Frutta Fresca (hot chocolate fondue with fresh fruit).
Tino is also responsible for making the restaurant’s much loved homemade ice creams, cakes and desserts, on a daily basis.
He says: “We have always made our own ice creams; they are out of this world! As well as customers’ favourites such as Strawberry, Tiramisu, Chocolate, Vanilla and Lemon, we also produce ‘specials’ such as green apple, forest fruit, strawberry cheesecake and ‘Stracciatella’ – vanilla ice cream with choc chips.”
For the fourth and final week of his Chef Specials, Paolo has decided to share his recipe for one of Italy’s most popular cakes, Tiramisu, which is made of savoiardi, known by many as lady finger biscuits, strong black coffee, egg yolks, amaretto, sugar and mascarpone.
He says: “Tiramisu is easily one of most popular desserts and many people automatically associate it with Italian restaurants – however, the difference is how to make a good one!”
“In the original recipe, which I grew up learning, chefs didn’t actually add any liquor to it as it was a dessert enjoyed by young children and the older generation. Its name, Tiramisu, means "pull-me-up", which is a reference to the effects of two of the ingredients, the sugar and the espresso.”
Using only seven ingredients and taking less than half an hour to prepare, Paolo recommends the dish for those wanting to impress at dinner parties and family-get-togethers.
“It is a great dish as it doesn’t take too long to make, it doesn’t contain expensive ingredients, it can be made hours before your guests arrive and also, if you don’t manage to eat it all, you can store it in the fridge and enjoy it again the next day!”
For a second delicious dessert, Paolo has chosen yet another classic Italian dish, which originated from Northern Italian region of Piemonte, Panna cotta. The words panna cotta translate as ‘cooked cream’.
He says: “All over Italy, it is eaten with wild berries, chocolate sauce, cherries or fruit coulis. It is an easy recipe to try at home and it really is a perfect pudding, especially on a hot summer’s day.”
Tiramisu
Ingredients: (serves 10) 5 eggs; 500g Mascarpone cheese; 200g sugar; 500g Savoiardi biscuits; ½ litre strong black coffee; 100g Amaretto; sprinkle of chocolate powder.
Method: Mix together the coffee and Amaretto and soak each one of the Savoiardi biscuits in it.
Separate the egg yolks and egg whites into two separate bowls and then beat the egg whites thoroughly until stiff.
Add the sugar and Mascarpone to the egg yolks and mix together. Add the stiffened egg whites and then fold.
Place a layer of the soaked biscuits into a large serving dish, then spoon a layer of the tiramisu mix on top of the biscuits. Place another layer of biscuits on top and spoon over the remaining tiramisu mix.
For best results, chill for four hours before serving then give the dish a sprinkle of chocolate powder.
Panna Cotta
Ingredients: (serves 10) 1 litre of milk; 1 litre of double cream; 30g gelatine; 1 vanilla pod.
Method:Boil the cream and the milk together in a pan on a medium heat and add the vanilla pod and gelatine.
Mix your ingredients well with a wooden spoon until it heats up.
Then, divide the mixture into 10 small ramekins and chill them for approximately 1 ½ hours before serving.
