Italian Zabaglione : It's easier than you think
Monday, November 12, 2012 at 4:41PM 
If you're like me at all, then you obsess over the idea of making wonderful dishes you've heard of on your travels but are often intimidated as to where to begin.
Until recently, I felt that way about Gnocchi, Risotto and Zabaglione.
I spend a lot of time looking at recipes and photographs of food online. I also own a small fortune's worth of cookbooks. After hours spent looking and admiring I decided that the only way I was going to overcome my fear of these dishes was to make them. I turned off my computer and closed the cookbooks.
Zabaglione is an Italian egg yolk-based custard traditionally made with Moscato D'Asti but is these days most commonly made with Marsala wine (France also has a version called Sabayon). It is silky-smooth, frothy-creamy, not too sweet and goes beautifully with fresh berries. Something I had noticed about all of the recipes I came across for Zabaglione is that every recipe was different. They all had any number of different ingredients, including whipped cream, vanilla, cinnamon, however the one thing they all had in common was egg yolks, sugar and Marsala. I thought I would start with a simple, basic ratio of those three ingredients ingredients and tweak from there. Luckily, I made gorgeous Zabaglione on my first try - it's so easy you won't even believe it!
Italian Zabaglione
- Per person - 1 egg yolk + 1 Tbsp sugar + 1 Tbsp dry Marsala wine
- Set a pot on the stove with about 1-2 inches of water in it - bring water to a gentle simmer - put yolk + sugar + Marsala in a bowl that fits over the pot but doesn't touch the water (essentially a double boiler)
- Whisk for 4-5 minutes until thick, creamy and ribbony - pour into dessert bowls or champagne flutes and top with fresh fruit
Zabaglione cools quite quickly and can be eaten right away. I will often make it just for myself and eat it plain without berries - heavenly!! You can also pour it into dishes, wrap them with Saran and put them in the fridge for later. It's a very easy way to impress guests at a dinner party!
