Italian Abruzzese Custard Layer Cake | Pizza Dogge Abruzzese
Pizza dogge is the banquet cake of Teramo, and it has nothing to do with pizza. Dogge is the local word for dolce, so this is simply the sweet round: a tall sponge in three layers, two pastry creams, red alchermes syrup and a white cream coat.
It rewards patience rather than skill. Cold sponge, cold cream and a night in the refrigerator give the clean, square shouldered slice that Abruzzese families carry to the wedding table.
Yield: 10 to 12 servings. Prep: 1 hour. Bake: 35 minutes. Chill: overnight. Difficulty: intermediate. Region: Abruzzo, Teramo.
The Story
The cake belongs to the Teramano, the stretch of Abruzzo between the Gran Sasso and the Adriatic, and it belongs there as a cake of ceremony. It appears at weddings above all, but also at baptisms, confirmations and the long family lunches of Christmas and Easter. Older people in Teramo, Giulianova, Atri and Silvi still call it simply la pizza, because at a wedding there was one cake and this was it. Bakeries now sell it by the slice all year, which is new, and the pastry shops of Teramo still keep a version in the window on feast days. For most of its life it was made at home.
Its construction dates it. A tall foam sponge leavened only by whipped eggs, a starch thickened pastry cream, a syrup built on a bottled liqueur and a coat of sweetened whipped cream point to the domestic baking of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, when sugar, chocolate and liqueurs had become affordable in Abruzzese towns but the kitchen was still entirely handwork. The cake was assembled in wide pans the day before the celebration, kept cool in the cantina overnight, and carried out already cut.
Alchermes is the outsider and the reason the cake looks as it does. It is a Florentine liqueur flavoured with cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, coriander, rose water and vanilla, historically dyed scarlet with kermes, the dried insect that gave it its name. Tuscan pastry used it for zuppa inglese, and from there it travelled down the peninsula into the households of Abruzzo and the Marche. In Teramo it became a colour as much as a flavour. Families argue about everything else, sour cherries, a meringue top, a coffee cream, but the red sponge layer is not negotiable.
It sits comfortably beside the other ceremonial dishes of the province, the virtù soup of the first of May and the scrippelle 'mbusse, crepes rolled with pecorino and served in broth. All of them are food for a table of many people, prepared in advance, generous in quantity and carried through by the women of the family. The cake follows the same logic. It is made large, made early and cut only when everyone has arrived, which is why its slices have always been judged as much by patience as by flavour. A cut that stands upright and shows its bands is a small point of pride for whoever made it, and guests notice it before they taste anything.
Ingredients
For the sponge
Large eggs, room temperature, 6
Granulated sugar, 1 cup (200 g)
Cake flour, 1 cup (120 g)
Cornstarch, 1/4 cup (30 g)
Lemon zest, finely grated, 1 tsp (2 g)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Fine sea salt, 1 pinch
Soft butter for the pan, 1 tbsp (14 g)
For the two pastry creams
Whole milk, 3 cups (710 ml)
Large egg yolks, 6
Granulated sugar, 3/4 cup (150 g)
Cornstarch, 1/2 cup (60 g)
Pure vanilla extract, 1 tsp (5 ml)
Lemon zest, in wide strips, from 1/2 lemon
Dark chocolate, 60 to 70 percent cocoa, chopped, 4 oz (115 g)
Unsweetened cocoa powder, 2 tbsp (12 g)
For the soaking syrups
Water, 1 cup (240 ml)
Granulated sugar, 1/2 cup (100 g)
Alchermes, 1/3 cup (80 ml)
Dark rum, 1/3 cup (80 ml)
For finishing
Heavy cream, very cold, 1 1/2 cups (355 ml)
Powdered sugar, 2 tbsp (15 g)
Dark chocolate shavings, 1 oz (30 g)
Sliced almonds, toasted, 1/4 cup (25 g), optional
Preparation
Bake the pan di Spagna
Heat the oven to 350°F (175°C). Butter a 9 inch (23 cm) tall sided pan, line the base with parchment and flour the sides. Beat the yolks with half the sugar until pale and falling in a ribbon, then beat in the vanilla and zest. In a clean bowl whip the whites with the salt, adding the remaining sugar in three additions, to a glossy medium peak. Fold a third of the whites into the yolks, then the twice sifted flour and cornstarch alternately with the rest, stopping when no streaks remain. Bake 30 to 35 minutes until deep gold and springy. Cool 10 minutes in the pan, then completely on a rack.
Cook the pastry cream
Bring the milk just under a simmer with the lemon strips and let it stand off the heat for 10 minutes, then lift the strips out. Whisk the yolks, sugar, cornstarch and a pinch of salt until smooth. Pour in about a cup of the hot milk in a thin stream, whisking, then return everything to the pan. Cook over medium heat, whisking into the corners, until it thickens and comes to a full boil. Keep it boiling and whisking for one full minute, then remove it from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.
Make the chocolate half
Divide the hot cream equally by weight, about 1 pound (450 g) each. Leave one half plain. Into the other, still hot, whisk the chopped chocolate and the cocoa until glossy and uniform. Spread both creams in shallow trays, press plastic wrap directly onto each surface and refrigerate at least 3 hours until fully cold.
Make and divide the syrups
Boil the water and sugar for 3 minutes, then cool it completely. Divide it between two bowls. Stir the alchermes into one and the rum into the other. Both liqueurs must go into cold syrup, because hot syrup carries the alcohol and the cinnamon and rose of the alchermes into the air and leaves only a stain.
Cut the sponge
Trim the domed top flat. Score a shallow line around the side of the cake, then saw through with a long serrated knife in light strokes, turning the cake as you go. You want three even discs. Number them as they come off and keep the flattest original base for the top.
Build the first two layers
Set the first disc on the serving plate and brush it with the alchermes syrup in two passes, right out to the edge, until deeply pink and wet but not swimming. Spread all of the vanilla cream over it to the edge. Press gently with your palm and refrigerate 30 minutes. Add the second disc, soak it with the rum syrup, cover it with all of the chocolate cream, press lightly and chill another 30 minutes.
Close and chill the cake
Add the last disc cut side down, brush it with whatever syrup is left and press the whole cake gently and evenly to close any gaps. Cover loosely and refrigerate at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
Coat and decorate
Whip the very cold cream with the powdered sugar to a medium peak. Cover the top and sides in a thin smooth coat, working quickly with an offset spatula. Press the chocolate shavings and toasted almonds around the lower edge and return the cake to the refrigerator for 30 minutes before cutting.
Plating
This cake is judged on the cut face. Use a long thin blade, dip it in hot water and wipe it dry before every slice, and cut straight down in one movement. Let the cake stand 20 minutes out of the refrigerator first, so the cream loosens enough to taste of something.
Cut tall narrow wedges rather than wide ones and stand them on plain white plates with the red sponge facing the diner. In Teramo the slices arrive on a large platter, leaning together. A spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream or a few sour cherries in syrup are the only additions that belong, and only for a celebration. Skip berries, mint and chocolate sauce on the plate, since the cake already holds vanilla, lemon, chocolate, rum and spice.
Professional Technique
In a tall cake the pastry cream is not a filling but a load bearing wall. Two creams carry the weight of every layer above them, so they need more starch than a cream meant for a spoon: here 1/2 cup (60 g) cornstarch to 3 cups (710 ml) of milk. Cook it one full minute beyond the first bubble, whisking into the corners. Starch granules swell and burst as they gelatinize, and that extra minute finishes the job. A cream pulled off at the first thickening looks set, then relaxes overnight.
Cool it thin and covered. Spread each cream in a shallow tray and press plastic directly onto the surface, because a skin turns into rubbery flecks inside the layer, and chill it fully cold. Only cold, fully gelatinized cream has the strength to bear a sponge, and it should be spread when it is cool enough to hold a mark from the spatula but still smooth. Whisk it briefly before use if it has stiffened in the tray.
Then build in stages. Press each layer gently with your palm to close gaps, and firm it in the refrigerator for 30 minutes before adding the next, so the cream sets under the sponge instead of squeezing out beneath it. Stacked all at once, the cake slides sideways at the first cut. Level discs, chilled layers and a hot wiped blade keep every band where you put it. The final overnight rest is the last part of the same method: it lets the whole stack set into one column that survives the knife.
Texture and Moisture Control
Three textures share one slice: sponge wet through, cream set but spreadable, and a dry, stable whipped coat. The sponge is the only part allowed to be saturated, and it is soaked with cold syrup, about 3 tablespoons (45 ml) per disc, brushed in two passes right out to the rim. A dry edge is the clearest sign of a careless cake. The sponge holds roughly its own weight in liquid, because it has no butter to close the crumb.
The overnight rest is when the syrup equalizes through the crumb and the creams finish setting. Cut after two hours, the cake tastes right but slumps on the plate. Six hours is the minimum and twelve is better. Cream firms considerably between 68°F (20°C) and 40°F (4°C), so spread it only when it is fully cold.
The coat is the last variable. Whip cold cream in a chilled bowl to a medium peak, since anything stiffer turns grainy. In a warm kitchen it softens within 40 minutes, so coat late and keep the cake covered and cold until service. On a hot day chill the bowl and whisk for 15 minutes first, which buys a useful margin of working time.
Professional Mise en Place
This is a banquet cake, so almost everything happens the day before and only the coat and the slicing are left for service. Spread the work over two days and nothing on the day of service is rushed, which is exactly how the cake was made at home for a wedding.
Equipment and tools
9 inch (23 cm) tall sided pan, parchment, mixer, balloon whisk
Shallow trays and plastic wrap for the creams
Long serrated knife, offset spatula, pastry brush
Instant read thermometer to confirm a true boil
Wide bowl of ice water for cooling the syrup quickly
Prepared ahead
Sponge baked and wrapped the day before
Both creams cooked and chilled the day before
Syrups cooled, liqueurs stirred in only when cold
Cake built and refrigerated overnight
Chocolate shaved and almonds toasted, kept dry at room temperature
Service setup
Cream, bowl and whisk chilled, whipped within 1 hour of serving
Jug of hot water and a clean towel beside the board
Cake out of the refrigerator 20 minutes before slicing
Plates at room temperature, leftovers back in the cold at once
Chef Tips
Bake the sponge the day before and never cut it warm. A fresh crumb tears and compresses, while twelve hours wrapped turns it into three clean discs with almost no crumbs on the board.
Use real alchermes. Its cinnamon, clove and rose are half of what makes the cake taste Abruzzese. If you must substitute, steep a cinnamon stick in the syrup with red vermouth and accept a paler colour, saying honestly that it is a substitution.
Weigh the two cream halves, about 1 pound (450 g) each, so the bands are equal on every slice. An uneven split gives one thick band and one thin one, visible on every plate and impossible to correct once the chocolate is in.
Taste the syrup before it touches the cake. It should be sweeter and more perfumed than you would drink, without burning. If the rum is harsh, add a spoonful of water rather than sugar.
Common Mistakes
Taking the cream off the heat at first thickening. It looks finished but is not, and it thins overnight and soaks the sponge to mush. Hold a full rolling boil for a minute.
Building with warm cream. Warm cream has half the firmness of cold cream and squeezes out under the upper layers. Chill both creams at least 3 hours.
Adding liqueur to hot syrup. The aromatics evaporate and only the colour stays. Cool the syrup first.
Under soaking the edge. The rim is what the diner sees. Brush right to the edge in two passes.
Stacking all layers at once. The cake slides sideways when cut. Firm each layer in the refrigerator before the next.
Whipping the coat too stiff. It turns grainy and moves toward butter. Stop at a medium peak.
Skipping the overnight rest. Guests arrive early, the cake is cut after two hours and the slice slumps. Build it the night before and the problem disappears.
Melting the chocolate first. Melted chocolate stirred into hot cream can seize into grains. Chop it fine and let the heat of the cream do the melting.
Wine Pairing
Moscato d'Asti DOCG: The classic celebration pour. Its light fizz and low alcohol lift the pastry cream, and the orange blossom and peach of the grape run alongside the vanilla and lemon. Its sweetness sits just under the cake's, so the wine stays fresh rather than syrupy, and it is the safest bottle for a table of mixed tastes, from children to grandparents.
Recioto di Soave DOCG: Dried Garganega brings apricot, candied peel and a marked almond note that answers the toasted almonds. Its firm acidity for a sweet white cuts the whipped cream coat cleanly and leaves the palate ready for the next mouthful. Choose it for anyone who finds Moscato too easy, and serve it well chilled in small glasses.
Colli Orientali del Friuli Picolit DOCG: Delicately sweet rather than unctuous, with acacia honey and a faint bitter almond finish. Its restraint never buries the spice of the alchermes. Pour small glasses, cool but not cold, with the first slice rather than the second. It is rare and expensive, and the most precise match for the perfumed side of the cake.
Brachetto d'Acqui DOCG: Lightly sparkling, sweet and pale red, with rose and strawberry aromas that meet the chocolate cream better than any white. Serve it at 50°F (10°C), colder than instinct suggests for a red. Choose it when your family builds the cake with a heavy chocolate layer or folds sour cherries into it, and its low alcohol keeps the pairing light.
Storage & Reheating
The assembled cake keeps 3 days in the refrigerator and is best on the second, once the syrup has equalized. Store it under a cake dome or in a tall airtight container, not under plastic pressed onto the cream, and away from onions and cheese, which the cream absorbs within hours.
Never warm it, but temper it. Take it out 20 minutes before serving so the cream loosens and the chocolate layer stops tasting muted. After 45 minutes at room temperature the coat weeps, so return leftovers to the cold at once.
The finished cake does not freeze, because cornstarch cream separates on thawing. The sponge alone freezes well for up to 2 months, wrapped tightly, and thaws overnight in its wrapping. The two creams keep 2 days refrigerated with the surface covered, and the syrup keeps a week in a sealed jar, with the liqueurs added only on the day you build the cake.
Nutrition
Per serving, based on 12 slices from one 9 inch (23 cm) cake:
Calories: 470 kcal
Total Fat: 22 g
Saturated Fat: 12 g
Trans Fat: 0.4 g
Unsaturated Fat: 9 g
Cholesterol: 235 mg
Sodium: 95 mg
Total Carbohydrates: 57 g
Fiber: 1.5 g
Total Sugars: 40 g
Added Sugars: 34 g
Protein: 9 g
Lactose: 6 g
Principal micronutrients: calcium, phosphorus, riboflavin, vitamin B12, vitamin A, selenium
These figures are estimates and shift if the cake is cut into 10 slices.
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