The best dessert in Italy according to Michelin: the recipe

The candid and slightly ethereal appearance, with that veil of sugar covering. The soft and soft texture, which is exactly what we would imagine to find when biting into a cloud. The dessert signed by could not have had any other name Francesco Marchese, one star chef Michelin of the Réva Resort in Monforte D’albaone of the places that make the Langa a haven of relaxation and tranquility among the hills, good food and excellent wine.

Just this year, during the 2024 Michelin Guide award ceremony, the young chef of Venetian origin was called on stage to collect this year’s novelty, the «Passion Dessert» award, dedicated precisely to the sweet part of a starred meal. With him other illustrious colleagues, such as Riccardo Monco of Enoteca Pinchiorri, Davide Guidara of I Tenerumi, Gian Piero Vivalda of Antica Corona Reale, Nicola Portinari of La Peca, Gaetano Trovato of Arnolfo, Angelo Sabatelli of Sabatelli and Matteo Metullio and Davide De Harry’s Little Pra.

Michelin did not specify which dessert earned these chefs the special award of the year: what is certain is that their attention to pastry making was noteworthy, at least according to Italy’s most feared and revered inspectors. «Our desserts follow our cooking philosophy», explains chef Marchese. «Seasonality, territory and French techniques, such as Cryo-concentration by chef Alléno, with whom we prepare ours for example “Nocciola”, an extraction of Piedmontese hazelnuts in geleé with hot-cold chocolate cream and cardamom».

Among the desserts always on the menu, FRE has one that is delicious in its simplicity, which you can also try to replicate at home. It’s about the Cloudprecisely. A sort of biscuit made with the sponge cake crust which contains a foam and a milk and vanilla ice cream from Madagascar, accompanied by fresh seasonal fruit served natures, to give a touch of acidity accompanied by sweetness. «It is a dessert that brings to mind the tastes of childhood: milk, vanilla, fruit», explains the chef. «An understandable, immediate dessert, which transmits emotions to those who eat it and teaches us in the kitchen that it is often in simple things and quality raw materials that we can find a way to surprise with a dish».

So here’s how to prepare the Nuvola by chef Francesco Marchese.

For the sponge cake

Ingredients:

● 450g egg white

● 105g sugar

● 300g egg yolk

● 255g sugar

● 187g flour

● 187 cornstarch

Method:

Beat the egg white and sugar and the egg yolk and sugar at the same time. Add the sifted flours to the whipped yolk and finally, delicately incorporate the egg whites. Spread onto pastry plates, 300g per plate, and sprinkle with icing sugar approximately five times, waiting for it to be absorbed each time, bake at 180° for 8 minutes.

For the mousse

Ingredients:

● 1l milk

● 1 vanilla pod

● 60g sugar

● 20g gelatin

● 1l cream

Method:

Infuse the milk with hot vanilla, add cream and sugar and finally the rehydrated gelatine. Keep in the fridge until serving.

For the milk ice cream

Ingredients:

• 1150g milk
• 350g cream
• 235g sugar
• 34g dextrose
• 10.5g powdered milk
• 34g glucose
• 6g ice cream stab

Method:

Mix the stabilizer with part of the sugar. Mix milk, cream, sugar, milk powder and dextrose, heat to 45° and bring to 85°. Remove and let cool to 8°, then place in pacojets and freeze. In a deep dish, place a spoonful of lightly whipped mousse, followed by the quenelle of ice cream, three raspberries and finally more mousse. Cover with a sponge cake crust and serve.