Sabayon

Sabayon is the French cousin of Italian zabaglione, and this version goes all in with three types of wine: red, white, and sherry. That trio gives the sauce a depth you won’t get from the traditional single-wine approach.

Six egg yolks get beaten over a double boiler with fresh orange juice, lemon juice, grated citrus rinds, sugar, and all that wine until the mixture foams up into something that looks and behaves like hollandaise. The double boiler is doing the real work here. Direct heat would scramble the yolks before the sauce has a chance to thicken.

Spooned warm over strawberry ice cream sundaes, the contrast of hot, foamy sauce melting into cold ice cream is hard to beat for a dinner party finish.

Pro Tips

• Keep the water in the double boiler just under a boil, never at a full rolling boil. Too much heat cooks the egg yolks into curds
• Beat continuously with a whisk, not a spoon. Constant agitation is what creates that light, foamy texture
• The sauce is done when it coats the back of a spoon and holds a ribbon when the whisk is lifted
• Serve immediately since sabayon deflates as it cools

Variations

• Use Marsala wine in place of sherry for a more traditional Italian zabaglione flavor
• Pour over fresh peaches or raspberries instead of strawberry sundaes
• Skip the ice cream and serve the sabayon in wine glasses with berries on the bottom for an elegant standalone dessert