With Christmas but 5 days away, my thoughts have turned to homebrewing special dishes traditionally served only at this time of year. Speaking of traditions, we had one at my home when I was growing up.
The tradition was that on my birthday (December 18) the Christmas tree would be decorated followed by a birthday party. For a birthday cake my mom would serve Zuppe Inglese. Literally translated Zuppe Inglese means English Soup -- but it is so much more than that description.
So here is my mother's version of Zuppe Inglese. You start with four layers of white cake. Each layer is liberally soaked in rum and between the layers is vanilla cream pudding. The outside is covered in real whipped cream and topped with Maraschino Cherries. The cake must be made 24 hours in advance of consumption so that the rum flavoring fully permeates the cake.
A variant likely developed to solve a problem. One traditional Italian cookie is known as Biscotti (the root of the word biscuit). Believe it or not but Biscotti is a cake like cookie that is hard. The idea is you dip the Biscotti into a liqueur like Anisette as it is eaten. The variant is you use the Biscotti instead of the cake. With a rum soak and the vanilla cream pudding the Biscotti softens and is edible. Problem Solved!
The Biscotti are typically almond flavored and when used in the Zuppe Inglese are laid on their side and arranged in a square pattern with the ends cut off to compete the square.
One must be liberal yet careful with the amount of Rum used to soak the medium. There must be enough, so it is recognizable but not so much that it is overwhelming. A steady and sure hand (like soldering SMD parts) is requisite.
Homebrewing can be rewardable and fun -- even edible!
Here is wishing you a Happy and Joyous Christmas although with the clown show soon to be in charge it is a sign that the joy is soon to be gone. If you work in government, you may soon be on furlough and thus a good time to think about homebrewing a Direct Conversion Receiver.
73's
Pete N6QW