Sabayons, Warm and Frozen

Sabayon is the French name of the truly Italian zahaglione which has been imitated the world over. Its variations are multiple. Zabaglione can be a sauce or a dessert custard. In Italy it is mostly served warm—foamy, ethereal, and flavored with great dry Marsala, but many a cook has brought one’s grain of salt to zabaglione, so that by now, it comes in all flavors and is served either warm or cold. When prepared for chilling or freezing, it must be stabilized with gelatin, ½ teaspoon for every 4 egg yolks, to avoid separation in the refrigerator. Some zabaglione recipes are so similar to recipes for mousses that it is difficult to see a difference, which is why I am listing frozen sabayons just before the mousses.