Zucotto with Drunk Cherry, Almonds and Chocolate

Zucotto is a pumpkin-shaped Florentine dessert, literally means a small pumpkin. Zucotto is a hemisphere of sponge cake soaked in liqueurs, filled with chilled cream. According to legend, the first author of this cake was inspired by the shape of the dome of the Cathedral of Florence. I bake zucotto for all the holidays, because this is my husband's favorite cake. Therefore, in addition to any cake, he asks for a zucotto. This New Year, the zucotto was the first to disappear from the table, she did not even manage to photograph the cut. Therefore, I will show you an identical cut from the previous dessert.

Ingredients

• for chocolate biscuit: butter 100 g
• cocoa 30 g
• flour 100 g
• baking powder 10 g
• chicken eggs 2 pcs.
• sugar 80 g
• sour cream or thick yogurt 2 tablespoons
• for "drunken" cherries: frozen cherries 350 g
• cognac 100 g
• ground cinnamon 1 pinch (s)
• for filling: cream 33% 300 g
• dark chocolate 50 g
• roasted almonds 80 g
• sugar 80 g

Directions

1. Soak cherries in cognac, leave to brew overnight.
2. Cooking the dough. Sift flour, cocoa and baking powder into a separate bowl.
3. Add room temperature butter to the flour mixture, mix.
4. Beat eggs with sugar until sugar dissolves.
5. Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture, beat until smooth. At the end, add sour cream or thick yogurt, beat again.
6. Spread the dough evenly on a baking sheet lined with baking paper (I have a silicone mat).
7. We bake at 180 ° C for about 15 minutes. After 10 minutes, take a look at our biscuit. It's important not to overdry, so be guided by your oven! To assemble the zucotto, we need a bowl or salad bowl, I have a diameter of 18 cm. From the dough we cut out a circle the size of a salad bowl (we will use it to cover the bottom of our dome), mark the remaining dough into triangles.
8. Line the salad bowl with cling film, so it will be easier to remove the finished cake-dome.
9. We cover the sides of the salad bowl with dough triangles, the joints can be sealed with scraps of dough, the dough turns out to be fluffy and pliable, so it is very easy to do.
10. Let's start preparing the filling. Throw the cherries in a colander, let the liquid drain. Do not pour out the liquid, it needs to soak the biscuit. Cut the chocolate into small cubes. Chop the toasted almonds.
11. Whip the cooled cream with sugar, add chopped chocolate and almonds, mix.
12. At the very end, add the drunk cherry, mix gently, fill the prepared form with the filling.
13. Cover the top with a circle of dough, cover it with cling film and put in the cold for 4-6 hours.
14. After the allotted time, remove the dome pie, decorate as desired and serve on the festive table.
15. This is delicious! Unfortunately, this time I did not have time to photograph the cut, as the dessert was literally pulled apart into pieces, so I am attaching a photo of the previous one, exactly the same dessert. Enjoy your meal!