The signature spoon dessert of Cogne, at the foot of the Gran Paradiso: a rich, velvety chocolate cream of egg yolks beaten pale with sugar and fresh cream, into which dark chocolate is melted gently over a bain-marie and a measure of rum is folded, then chilled. It is traditionally served with the region's thin almond-and-hazelnut tegole wafers.
Crema di Cogne is the spoon dessert of Cogne, at the foot of the Gran Paradiso, and was once a noble sweet: in its day chocolate was a rare luxury, so the cream was kept for weddings and patron-saint feasts. Its original patois name was simply 'the cream', and only later did it gain 'di Cogne'; a local legend traces it to a village woman of the 1600s who guarded the recipe, so that each family now keeps its own version. It is served with the region's tegole, thin almond-and-hazelnut wafers that use up the egg whites the crema's yolks leave over, and it can be eaten warm, tepid or cold. It is distinct from the lighter, rum-and-lemon fiandolein.
Dense and satiny on the spoon, deeply chocolatey and sweet, warmed by rum, with the richness of yolk and cream behind it. Against it the tegole snap and crumble, dry and nutty, a brittle foil to the smooth cream.
Beating the yolks with sugar breaks them into a fine, air-laced base, and the lecithin in the yolks emulsifies the fat of the cream and chocolate into a smooth, stable cream. The mixture is thickened gently over a bain-marie and never allowed to boil: yolk proteins begin to set around 65℃ and the sugar raises that temperature, so held below a simmer they thicken to a custard without curdling into grains. The cocoa butter of the chocolate, liquid above about 34℃, blends in and then firms as the cream chills, setting it to a spoonable, glossy body; the rum adds aroma and a trace of alcohol that keeps it soft.
Variations
Each family in Cogne keeps its own hand, adjusting the darkness of the chocolate, the sweetness and the dose of rum; some fold in whipped cream for a lighter, more mousse-like body. It is a close cousin of the lighter fiandolein, flavoured instead with lemon and rum and made without chocolate.
On the Palate
Where Crema di Cogne sits in the Italian flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 6How it's made
7 steps · 20 min
- 18 min
Separate 6 eggs, keeping the whites for tegole; beat the yolks with 150g sugar until pale and thick.
- 26 min
Warm 500ml fresh cream in a heavy pan until it steams, without letting it boil.
- 34 min
Finely chop 150g dark chocolate and stir it into the hot cream off the heat until fully melted and smooth.
- 43 min
Whisk a little of the warm chocolate cream into the yolks to temper them, then return everything to the pan.
Watch outTemper first — whisk a little hot cream into the yolks before returning them to the pan, or dumping cold yolks into hot cream curdles them instantly.
- 512 min
Cook gently over a bain-marie, stirring constantly, until the cream thickens enough to coat the spoon; do not let it boil.
Watch outCook over the bain-marie only until it coats the back of the spoon; never let it boil or the yolks scramble into grains.
- 63 min
Stir in 2 tbsp rum, pass through a sieve if needed, and pour into cups or a bowl.
- 7180 min
Chill for at least 3 hours until set, and serve with almond-and-hazelnut tegole.
