Zabaglione
A warm, frothy custard of egg yolks, sugar and Marsala wine whisked over simmering water until thick and light.
Photograph credit: Marsala sabayon with cookie and local stone fruit (image of zabaione on Wikidata Q136701) by stu_spivack · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons · this resized copy is shared under the same licence
Don't Make These Mistakes
Keep the water at a bare simmer.
Whisk without stopping.
Take the bowl off the heat if it looks grainy.
Serve at once.
How to Make Zabaglione
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Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, with the base of the bowl clear of the water.
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Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale, then add the Marsala.
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Whisk continuously for 8 to 10 minutes until the mixture has tripled in volume, forms soft ribbons and reaches 71°C / 160°F on a thermometer.
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Spoon into glasses and serve at once with the strawberries and sponge fingers.
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What's Going On Here
Zabaglione is an Italian custard of egg yolks, sugar and wine, and the recipe is nothing more than those three things whisked over heat. It is the method that needs care, because the same mixture over too much heat becomes scrambled egg.
Set a heatproof bowl over a pan of barely simmering water, with the base of the bowl clear of the water. Whisk the yolks and sugar together until pale, then add the Marsala and whisk continuously for 8 to 10 minutes. Keep whisking and keep the water at a bare simmer. The mixture should swell to three times its volume and form soft ribbons when the whisk is lifted.
Take the bowl off the heat if the mixture starts to look grainy at the edges, and whisk hard to cool it down.
Spoon into glasses at once and serve warm with berries or biscuits, because it collapses as it stands.
Leftovers, Reheating and Keeping
Best eaten straight away. It collapses as it cools.
What to Serve Alongside
- Fresh strawberries
- Sponge fingers
- Amaretti
- Dessert wine
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, an approximate calculation from the ingredient list. Treat it as a rough guide: all the alcohol is counted, though some is lost in cooking; part of the energy comes from foods, or weights per item, with no recorded source. The calories include 3 g of alcohol a serving, which is not part of the protein, carbohydrate or fat. How the figures are worked out.
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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