2 lbs. cooking apples, pears or peaches that are not over-ripe
grated rind of a lemon
4 ozs. brown sugar
1 tablespoon cold water
1 oz. butter
1 wineglassful white wine
thin slices of bread and butter with crusts removed

1 wineglassful rum

Prepare the fruit by peeling and coring (or in the case of peaches, removing the stones), put them in a stew pan with the sugar, the water and the white rind and cook until tender; when the fruit is reduced to a pulp, add the butter and the grated lemon rind, and if not sufficiently sweet add a little more sugar.

Meanwhile, grease a souffle mould, and line it entirely with well buttered slices of thin bread.

Pour in the fruit pulp, and well buttered slices of thin bread.

Pour in the the fruit pulp, and over the top place a layer of thinly sliced and buttered bread.

Sprinkle with sugar.

Bake in a moderate oven for half an hour, and just before serving, pour over the rum and light, so that the dish is carried flaming to the table.

This final touch may be omitted if preferred.

The recipe was first published in "Italian Cooking" by Dorothy Daly (London: Spring Books, 1960?). For the complete text visit www.archive.org.... Nowadays few Italian desserts are made with bread, but it seems that in the early part of the 20th century it was not uncommon to do so. Besides using bread to make some of their desserts, Italians also found ways to incorporate macaroni into their sweets. Photo: Mary Melfi.

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