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Sabayon Sauce
Place in a bowl two egg yolks and one ounce granulated sugar. Mix well with a wooden spoon for two minutes. Boil in a saucepan one gill milk and one gill cream, adding seven drops vanilla essence; as soon as it comes to a boil pour it very gradually over the eggs and sugar, continually stirring meanwhile. Transfer into a saucepan, set the pan on the fire, heat for three minutes, without ceasing mixing, but do not allow to boil. Remove the pan from the fire. Strain through a cheesecloth into a saucebowl and serve.
A stirred custard sauce in all but name, and it behaves like one: the whole recipe hinges on keeping it below the boil.
- The hingeOnce the tempered mixture goes back on the heat it must not boil. Yolks set around 180F and curdle shortly after; hold it just below a simmer, stirring constantly, until it coats the spoon.
- A gillHalf a cup. So 1/2 cup milk and 1/2 cup cream, one cup of liquid in all.
- An ounce of sugarWeight, not volume — about 2 tablespoons of granulated sugar.
- Seven drops vanilla essencePeriod essences varied a good deal in strength and consistency, so the drop count is not a reliable measure. About 1/4 teaspoon of good vanilla extract is a workable modern equivalent; add it off the heat if you want the aroma to survive.
- Wooden spoon, not whiskThe recipe calls for a wooden spoon and for continual stirring rather than beating, which suits a smooth pourable sauce; keep the spoon moving across the bottom of the pan, where the eggs catch first.
- StrainingCheesecloth catches any threads of set egg and the chalazae from the yolks. A fine sieve does the same job faster.
- InsuranceIf it does begin to grain, pull it off the heat immediately and strain it at once into a cold bowl; a sauce caught early is still usable, one that has scrambled is not.
- YieldAbout one cup, enough to sauce four servings of pudding, poached fruit or a plain cake. Serve warm, or cover the surface directly and chill.
"Sabayon" is the French form of the Italian zabaglione, which is classically yolks and sugar whisked with a sweet wine — Marsala most often — over gentle heat until thick and foaming. What is printed here is something else: a milk-and-cream custard flavoured with vanilla, closer to what a French kitchen would call crème anglaise. Filippini's book is drawn from a long career in New York restaurant kitchens.