Rich, decadent puddings

Here’s a little quiz to test your culinary knowledge: Mascarpone is: A. A dangerous Italian who will clog your arteries and thicken your thighs? B. An item worn by Italian jockeys during Il Palio? C. One of the most delicious things you’ll ever find in a chiller cabinet?

If you answered a) or c), you’re correct. I imagine b) would only be the right answer if the hapless fantino (jockey) careered through a tiramisu stand during Siena’s famous horse race.

Mascarpone is the Ferrari or Maserati of soft cheeses – traditionally made from double or triple cream, and as lush as you can get. It’s a key ingredient in tiramisu, holds up well in cream-based sauces and, in the right circumstances, can be eaten straight from the fridge with a spoonful of honey on top.

The British Heart Foundation lists mascarpone as a ‘‘bad’’ cheese that should be eaten infrequently, but I say a low-fat life is not one worth living. I wouldn’t eat these two recipes in the same meal but there’s nothing to stop you from eating them in the same week.

Serves 6 Preparation time: 15 mins Cooking time: nil

These heavenly puddings are inspired by zuccotto, an Italian dessert in which soaked sponge encases a fruit and nut creamy filling. The cream-filled sponges are supposed to resemble Il Duomo in Florence. This is a much faster way to enjoy many of the same flavours (though eat too many of these puddings and you may become Duomo-shaped yourself).

❚ 1⁄ cup hazelnuts

12tablespoon icing sugar

❚

❚ 1 cup ricotta

❚ 1 cup mascarpone

❚ Finely grated zest of 1 orange

❚ 1-2 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice or Cointreau

❚ 1⁄2 cup crystallised ginger, finely chopped

❚ 100g dark chocolate (I use Whittaker’s Madagascan Sambirano Extra Dark Chocolate), broken into pieces

Put the hazelnuts in a small frying pan set over medium heat. Sprinkle over the icing sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the hazelnuts are toasted. Tip them on to a board and chop roughly. Set aside.

Put the ricotta, mascarpone, orange zest and juice (or Cointreau) in a bowl and beat together until smooth. Fold through most of the ginger, chocolate and nuts, reserving a little of each for garnishing.

Divide between six small glasses and scatter the reserved chocolate, ginger and nuts on top. Cover and refrigerate until serving. Serves 3-4 Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 12 minutes

This is so good, so fast and so thoroughly satisfying that if you’re not careful you’ll end up turning to it on a