Authentic Italian Zabaglione Recipe is made just with 3 ingredients: egg yolks, granulated sugar and wine, usually Marsala. It's not difficult to make Zabaglione recipe. You just need very fresh eggs and a bit of skill using the whisk!
Zabaglione is a sweet foamy cream also known as Zabaione or Zabajone and it's one of the most classic ancient Italian dessert.
It's served in small cups with cookies like Savoiardi or with fresh seasonal fruit. It could be a nutritious snack or a dessert served on cold winter evenings.
During the Christmas holidays, in Italy usually they serve Zabaglione cream poured on slices of Panettone or Pandoro, for a terrific and delicious dessert.
You can enjoy this Italian custard both cold or hot, according to your taste and the season.
Zabaglione, together with Pastry Cream, is nowadays an important ingredient of the Italian pastry tradition, used to prepare refined desserts.
Its origins are homey and come from the custom of Italian mothers and grandmothers to beat the egg yolks with sugar in a cup until they get a frothy cream. This Italian egg yolk and sugar preparation was used as a natural tonic for inappetent or convalescent children/husbands, due to its high nourishing power.
As often happens, the simplest traditions give life to amazing recipes!
Ingredients
- Prep Time: 15 Min
- Cook Time: 10 Min
- Servings: 4
PLEASE NOTE: Zabaglione recipe comes from years of practice and experience of mothers and grandmothers of the past. You can think of Zabaglione as a "family" recipe: everyone has its own version.
The ingredients (sugar, egg yolks and Marsala) were approximately in the same quantity. Italian grandmothers weighed the egg yolk and added the equivalent quantity of sugar and Marsala, but in a very approximate way. We'd say "ad occhio".
They sometimes even used half an eggshell as a unit of measurement. So, for example, for 4 people: 4 egg yolks, 4 sugar half eggshells and 4 Marsala half eggshells! Zabaione recipe is an exception to the main rule of the pastry tradition, that wants the precise respect of the doses!
That said, let's see what are the ideal quantities for this recipe:
- 75 g (4 tablespoons) of granulated sugar
- 80 g (2.8 oz) of egg yolks (about 4-5 egg yolks, depending on the size of the eggs)
- 85 ml (~6 tablespoons) of Marsala wine
Kitchen Tools and Equipment
- WHISK: For making homemade Zabaglione recipe, it's necessary to have some simple but really useful kitchen tools. Let's see which ones. First of all, the most important thing is to have a good kitchen whisk.
- MIXER: Many, contrary to tradition, use an electric hand mixer. It's certainly more easy but you have to be very careful not to beat the eggs too quickly or beyond the right point. With a hand whisk, you need a little extra time but you find to have more control when you reached the desired thickness.
- MIXING BOWLS: You need also a Stainless Steel Mixing Bowl or a Copper Mixing Bowl. The material these bowls are made of, steel and copper, conduct little heat. They heat the eggs without cooking them.
- THERMOMETER: It may be useful to use a kitchen thermometer to check that the temperature does not exceed 85 °C /185 F.
- SERVING BOWLS AND GLASSES: They usually serve Zabaglione in glass bowls of various shapes, with the stem like Martini glasses or in glass dessert bowls. If you want to taste the freshly made hot Zabaglione cream, it's characteristic and in accord with Italian tradition to serve it in copper little bowls. They are nice, perfect for this type of dessert, a really original gift idea too!
Instructions
Step 1) - Start separating the egg yolks from the whites. Place the yolks in a stainless steel or copper bowl and add the sugar. Meantime, put a saucepan with a little water on low heat.
Step 2) - Mix eggs and sugar with a hand whisk or an electric whisk at low speed, being very careful. Keep whisking the egg yolks with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the yolks cream begins to thicken.
Step 3) - At this step, place the bowl on the saucepan with the hot water and continue to beat the egg cream with the whisk.
IMPORTANT:
- a) The water must be very hot but it must NOT boil.
- b) The bowl with the egg cream must NOT touch the hot water: it must remain raised.
Step 4) - After about 3-4 minutes, add slowly the Marsala wine. Mix everything together, keeping whisking until it reaches a puffy full-bodied consistency. It will take about 10 minutes in total.
Zabaglione is ready when the whisk leaves a "footprint" in the mixture and when, raising the whisk, you drop a fairly solid trail, as a ribbon, on the surface of the mixture. If you have a Kitchen thermometer, you can check that the temperature is around 85°C (185 F). The cream must NOT cook or boil, but just be warm.
You can serve your Zabaglione immediately, hot and creamy. Pour it into small glass bowls and enjoy it with Savoiardi or other cookies.
YOU MUST ALSO TRY:
- Panna Cotta recipe
- Zuppa Inglese recipe
- Affogato recipe
- Diplomat Cream Recipe | Crema Diplomatica
- Light Limoncello Custard in Lemon Shells
- Zabaglione Gelato Recipe
Storage
Zabaglione is excellent if you eat it immediately.
However, you can keep it in the fridge for 2-3 days. Before using it, you need to mix Zabaglione for another minute with a whisk. This is because the Marsala, after a few hours, settles on the bottom and it separates from the egg.
Substitutions
The more classic version of Zabaglione recipe wants Marsala but the choice of the alcoholic ingredient is unlimited.
You can use a fortified wine or even a liquor, such as Limoncello for example. Obviously in this case the alcohol content increases. Try this terrific Limoncello from Amalfi coast or make your own Limoncello at home with our recipe!
For a lighter version you can opt for a Moscato wine, a Passito or a Prosecco. You can also use a Port white wine, to not alter the color of the Zabaglione.
Variations
Cold Zabaglione Recipe
If, on the other hand, you want to enjoy a cold Zabaglione cream, here what you have to do:
Step 5) - Place the bowl with the Zabaglione on top of a bowl with ice cubes. Mix gently for a couple of minutes. In this way it cools down quickly remaining a creamy puffy dessert.
Salty Zabaglione Recipe
Using the same methods already described, whip the egg yolks with dry white wine. Add a pinch of salt and peper. Place the container on a pot with water and turn the flame to low. Continue to beat with the whisk until you get the right consistency and then add some grated Parmigiano and eat immediately.
Salted Zabaglione recipe is excellent with asparagus, white fish and, as we use in Italy for New Year's Eve, with Cotechino.
Non-alcoholic Zabaglione
To make a variant of Zabaglione recipe with no-alcohol, you can substitute Marsala wine with milk, flavored with a vanilla stick or a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Zabaglione vs Eggnogg
Many think that Zabaglione and Eggnogg are synonymous but this is not the case.
Zabaglione is a spoon cream, a custard-like dessert; Eggnogg is a beverage.
To make a perfect Italian Zabaglione, as we have shown you, you need to whisk the fresh egg yolks and sugar well so that they are soft and frothy. Then, continuing to beat during the cooking, add the Marsala. You can enjoy it hot or cold, with cookies or with Panettone.
Eggnogg is a typical drink of the Christmas season in Anglo-Saxon countries, invented in the eighteenth century by Carl Joannessons, a London bartender.
To warm up his customers during the winter months, he decided to combine egg yolks, sugar, cream and milk, flavoring everything with cinnamon, vanilla and nutmeg. Thus creating an original and perfect cocktail to fight the cold: the Eggnogg.
Origins and Curiosities
As we said, the Zabaglione recipe is very old and is lost in the mists of time. Housewives have always had the habit of making eggs beaten with sugar to give strength and energy to the children and men of the house. An ancient and widespread tradition everywhere in Italy.
There are several legends about the origin of the name "Zabaione" or "Zabaglione".
One of these tells that the mercenary captain Giovanni Baglioni arrived in Reggio Emilia in 1471 with few provisions available. Baglioni sent his men to stock up on food. And they returned with eggs, sugar and wine, ingredients that mixed together created the first Zabaione in history.
The name comes from this episode: the troops called the captain "Zvàn Bajòun", a nickname which was then maimed into Zambajoun, Zabajione and, finally, Zabaglione.
Another legend believes that it was invented in Turin in the sixteenth century, in honor of the Franciscan San Pasquale Baylón, patron of chefs and confectioners. First presented with the name of "San Baylón cream" and then, simply, Sambayon (still today in Piedmontese dialect the cream is called Sanbajon).
The first written recipe of Zabaglione is that of Bartolomeo Stefani from 1662, a cook at the Gonzaga court. He, in his recipe book, provides for the first time the doses for the Zabaglione and some advice for its preparation.
Recipe Card
Zabaglione Recipe (Crema allo Zabaione)
Ingredients
- 75 g granulated sugar 4 tablespoons
- 80 g egg yolks 2.8 oz (about 4-5 egg yolks, depending on the size of the eggs)
- 85 ml Marsala wine ~6 tablespoons
Instructions
- Place the yolks in a stainless steel or copper bowl and add the sugar. Meantime, put a saucepan with a little water on low heat.
- Mix eggs and sugar with a hand whisk or an electric whisk at low speed, being very careful. Keep whisking the egg yolks with the sugar until the sugar is dissolved and the yolks cream begins to thicken.
- Place the bowl on the saucepan with the hot water and continue to beat the egg cream with the whisk. The water must be very hot but it must NOT boil. The bowl with the egg cream must NOT touch the hot water: it must remain raised.
- After about 3-4 minutes, add slowly the Marsala wine. Mix everything together, keeping whisking until it reaches a puffy full-bodied consistency. It will take about 10 minutes in total.
- Zabaglione is ready when the whisk leaves a "footprint" in the mixture and when, raising the whisk, you drop a fairly solid trail, as a ribbon, on the surface of the mixture. If you have a Kitchen thermometer, you can check that the temperature is around 85°C (185 F). The cream must NOT cook or boil, but just be warm.
- You can serve your Zabaglione immediately, hot and creamy. Pour it into small glass bowls and enjoy it with Savoiardi or other cookies.
Luisa Conte says
Can the zabaglione be served cold or at room temperature? I have guests coming so I don’t want to be preparing it while they are here so what do you suggest please?
Thankyou for this recipe
Barbara Felicità Lucchini says
Hi Luisa,
Sure you can serve zabaione cold. Read the section "Variations" and you will find out the steps
Dona says
Correct me if I'm wrong, but to my understanding, a bain marie is a container with very hot water, where the container(s) of the ingredients to be whisked in and cooked or baked, are submerged to 3/4 of their height.
What is described here, is a double boiler, not a bain marie.
Barbara Felicità Lucchini says
Ciao Dona,
A double boiler and a bain-marie (also known as a water bath) are similar in that both involve the use of indirect heat, but they are used for slightly different purposes.
A double boiler comes as a ready-made set, whereas a bain-marie can be improvised with a bowl and a pot/pan/saucepan. This makes the bain-marie more flexible in terms of usage and setup. However, the core concept of both techniques is to provide gentle, indirect heat, which they achieve through slightly different methods and setups.
In the zabaglione recipe, to be exact, it's neither. As you can see in steps 3 and 4 (text and images). In fact, those steps are the secret to the recipe's success, and they must be followed carefully.
MoMo says
Silvana, This was an excellent and detailed recipe! Thank you for sharing and the history lesson.