Up for an easy creamy dessert in a glass? If so, my recipe could be inspirational to you. It’s a custard cream mixed with a fruity italian liqueur called Fragolino, excellent when served cold or used to finish ice creams and desserts off. This popular italian wine custard prepared whisking egg yolks and sugar is called Zabaione, it is generally enriched with dry Marsala (also with Porto, Madeira, Malaga, Vin Santo, Muscat or, more in general, any perfumed liquor such as Kirsch or Rhum), and whisked – in double boiler – until it becomes thick and foamy. It is usually served in glasses and accompanied by biscuits.
I wanted to make Zabaione for so long, to recall sweet memories of childhood. While searching for the right liquor, and I came up with different ideas in order to “innovate” the recipe. My cupboard does not offer a wide selection of spirits: 2 bottles of Jagermeister (popular because ads on tv), 1 Unicum (able to burn your guts), 1 Marsala wine and 1 Fragolino (which took the place of Limoncello, too popular to last more that a week).
I finally chose Fragolino (meaning little strawberry), mainly because the little wild strawberries floating in the bottle caught my attention and imagination. So, while listening the song “Little Green Bag”, my sister and I have made this cake in a glass layering crumbled biscuits with vanilla exctract and Zabaione cream, dipping few wild strawberries and drops of liqueur. My mother, skeptical in the beginning, was amazed by it in the end: she complained constantly during the preparation (“what’s this thing in the glass!?”) , then praised the dessert asking for another glass. Way too good, she said.
Preparation Method
Whisk the egg yolks with the sugar until you get a foaming mixture. Put the mixture on a double boiler (au bain marie) and keep whisking. Then add the Fragolino gradually and keep whisking, until the cream is thick enough. Smash the cookies, add the vanilla drops and put all in the glasses, pour the Zabaione, add some wild strawberries. Serve your dessert with few mint leaves on top.