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Whip Sauce, Rich, for Boiled Puddings
Beat the yolks of two eggs in a small basin, and add a pinch of salt, a table-spoonful of powdered white sugar, a small glassful of sherry or of any kind of liqueur, and a few drops of almond, lemon, orange, or vanilla flavouring. Put the basin in a saucepan which contains a small quantity of boiling water, and whisk the sauce over the fire till it looks like frothed cream. Pour it over the pudding, and serve.
This is a sabayon by another name: two yolks, sugar, fortified wine and heat, whisked to a foam. It takes about five minutes and cannot be made in advance.
- The hinge: gentle heat, constant whiskingThe recipe says boiling water, but keep it at a bare simmer and the basin above rather than sitting in it. Whisk more or less continuously; yolks left unstirred against a hot basin are apt to curdle.
- "A small glassful"A wineglassful was conventionally reckoned at about 2 fl oz (60 ml), so this is probably in that region. With only two yolks, much more liquid than that will make the foam slow to thicken.
- Powdered white sugarThis means finely ground sugar, the equivalent of today's caster or superfine sugar, not modern powdered sugar with its cornstarch. Granulated will work but dissolve it into the yolks before heating.
- Flavouring essencesA few drops means a few drops. Nineteenth-century almond flavouring was often bitter almond essence, far stronger than the almond extract sold now; with modern extract, 1/4 teaspoon of almond or vanilla is ample for this quantity.
- How to know when it is doneThe sauce should swell well in volume, turn pale, and hold a ribbon trail from the whisk for a second or two. If the lightly cooked yolks concern you, use an instant-read thermometer and take it to about 160F/71C rather than relying on appearance alone.
- Serve at onceWhip sauce begins to weep and separate within a few minutes of leaving the heat. Have the pudding turned out and waiting, not the other way round.
- YieldTwo yolks give roughly a cup of foam — enough for two to four helpings of a boiled pudding. Double it for a family-sized pudding, and use a wide basin so the whisk can work.
This is the English form of Italian zabaglione and French sabayon, offered as a light alternative to the flour-thickened sweet sauces and hard sauces served with boiled and steamed puddings. Sherry is the choice here because sherry was a common household sweet-course wine; the Italian version is generally made with Marsala. The word "whip" describes the method rather than any ingredient.