Genoese sciumette, also known as cave milk (latte alla grotta), is an ancient recipe, elegant and sadly little known.
I have found it very difficult to find the right quantities and method because nobody makes it at home anymore and restaurants no longer include it in their menus. A real shame because it makes a wonderful dessert.
Sciumette look like meringues but are soft. They are made with whipped egg whites and icing sugar (or honey), whisked into a firm texture. They are then placed, delicately, in a large saucepan where the milk is boiling. After a minute they swell up and are ready to be served on a cream made with the remaining egg yolks and dried fruit (I used pistachios).
It is a dessert from the simple country cooking of the Ligurian Alps, also known as white cuisine. In the past those who could afford it would add cocoa while those who couldn’t went without.
The appearance brings to mind the ìle flottante of French cuisine, with which West Liguria shares so many recipes. In Vendone “sciùmme” are also known as “sbruffi de neve” (snow flurries) but have as a variant crumbled amaretto biscuit.
Many think that Ligurian cuisine has few desserts and cakes because it is lean and inclined to the celebration of Lent. But this is not true, cakes and desserts have always been there, it’s just that they were made with the small number of ingredients available, often using honey, dried fruit (hazelnuts, walnuts and pine nuts) and eggs….
Ingredients
Tools
Steps
Keep half a glass of milk to one side. Pour the rest into a fairly large saucepan and bring it to the boil at a low heat.
Meanwhile, whip the egg whites with 60 grams of icing sugar. You need to obtain a swollen, shiny and foamy mixture. It should not fall down when you spin the bowl!
Pour the simmering milk into the mixture in spoonfuls (4/5 at a time… not more because the sciumette swell).
Stir delicately and cook for about a minute. They should become firm.
Drain with the slotted spoon and lay out on absorbent kitchen paper. Finish cooking the egg white mixture.
Turn off the heat and prepare the cream. Take the saucepan with the milk, add 60 g of sugar, the flour and well whisked eggs.
Put the half glass of milk previously put aside in another small saucepan with the finely chopped pistachios. Boil for three minutes. Then pass through the sieve with the other ingredients.
Put back over a (low!) heat and thicken a little, stirring continuously. The tablespoon must be veiled with cream.
Serve the cream in ice cream bowls with the sciumette on top, sprinkle with cinnamon and chopped pistachios.
Varied doses for servings