I made Strawberries Zabaglione with Coconut Sugar and Cream last spring for mine and my husbands 16th anniversary (you can see the full special dinner here). A few readers were curious to know what it was and how to make it so I thought with Christmas approaching it would be the perfect time to share this delectable adult dessert!
What is Zabaglione?
Zabaglione is an Italian dessert (kinda like a custard only different) with a history of being served primarily at Christmastime. I cannot remember if I first learned of it while watching Everyday Italian with Giada DeLaurentis, or if it was a Good Eats episode with Alton Brown (the two best cooking shows EVER IMO). Anyways, the legend that came with it was super fun-especially if you like red wine, which I happen to.
Apparently when this recipe was first born, an Italian chef was making something else and he went to grab a bottle of vanilla. As he was pouring it in the mix with his eggs and sugar he realized it was not vanilla, but rather it was red wine! And the end result was outstanding! Of course Wikipedia had a different rendition completely of the history of this luxurious dessert. According to Wiki the leader of an Italian army and his men were foraging for food and all they could come up with was white wine, eggs, herbs and honey, and hence this recipe was created.
The latter story is probably more accurate since it is on Wiki and all!
This is probably one of my very favorite desserts. I love putting it in tiramisu, or enjoying it with a bowl of strawberries and whipped cream! It is lovely served as an evening snack after dinner, but it’s even better served at breakfast in my opinion!
As mentioned I can’t remember if I learned of zabaglione first from Everyday Italian or Good Eats but I know it was on both shows (this was around 20 years ago). Giada’s version can be found HERE and has chocolate melted with heavy cream. It’s totally worth making, BTW. Alton Brown’s is also worth making and can be found HERE.
Although I absolutely love both their recipes, I have problems with cane sugar. If I eat fruit and cane sugar together I end up with kind of a super mild allergic reaction that lasts for days. So the cane sugar is one thing I change. Also I’m not crazy about chocolate (I know, what kind of woman am I, right!?). Anyways this recipe is slightly better with some chocolate, however sometimes I have trouble melting chocolate. I get sidetracked since I do have 6 kids to distract me causing the whole chocolate melting thing to get away from me. So I like to use cocoa powder instead.
I’ve also added vanilla to the whipping cream because, well, hello!
One of the last changes is the wine. You are supposed to use Marsala. Honestly it’s wonderful with Marsala, but I always just use whatever I happen to have open at the time. Usually that is Malbec, Cabernet Sauvignon, and very rarely Merlot. I think zabaglione is lovely with any one of the three!
One of my favorite things about this recipe is that since I used coconut sugar and less sweetener, it’s not too sweet. It might sound funny but I’m not crazy about desserts that are overly sweet, I personally prefer my sweets to be more “rich” than sweet!
I recommend using farm fresh eggs. They are generally more nutritious and they taste better.
TIP; since this has red wine you’ll want to make something else for the kiddo’s. I recommend something that resembles the zabaglione (like pudding) and making extra whipped cream and strawberries so they can have something that looks similar or else they’ll be bugging you for a bite the whole time you are eating this, lol!
Strawberries Zabaglione with Coconut Sugar and Cream
Strawberries Zabaglione
Equipment
- Double Broiler Copper works best.
- Whisk
Ingredients
- 6 farm fresh egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar (coconut or powdered)
- 1/2 red wine
- pinch salt
- 2 cups sliced strawberries
- 1 cup whipped cream
Instructions
- Whip the egg yolks until light and frothy, adding the sugar a tablespoon at a time. Add the salt.
- Gradually add the wine, a tablespoon at a time.
- Place the egg yolks in a double broiler, and heat slowly until 145-150 degrees whisking while heating.
- Pour into pudding cups and top with strawberries.
- Enjoy hot or chilled!
Notes
If you enjoyed Strawberries Zabaglione with Coconut Sugar and Cream be sure to check out my other recipes HERE.