Peaches and Cream Zabaglione

What's better than fresh, juicy, sweet, delicious fresh peaches right off the tree? Why, making a mouthwatering dessert with them, of course! 

When I was writing Organically Yours, I did a lot of research for my heroine, Tina Obermacher, who like me, has a thing for peaches. I've been waiting months for peach season to get here so I could try out some of the recipes I found. One in particular was a peach zabaglione. (If you've never heard of zabaglione before, it's a super light and fluffy whipped custard.)

There's no one way to make zabaglione. There are tons of recipes out there if you want to check them out. I picked a few of the ones that looked most appetizing to me and started experimenting until I Frankensteined (we're going to pretend that's a real word) my (uh, I mean Tina's) special version.

Want to give it a try? After all, Doc seemed to like it 😉

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup heavy whipping cream
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 1/4 cup sugar + 1 tablespoon
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • 1/3 cup white ice wine (optional)
  • 3 large ripe peaches
  • 1/2 cup water
  • ~12 store-bought package cookies (I like a mix of shortbread and Nilla wafers, but you could use anything you think would go well with peaches)

Directions

  1. Bring water to a simmer in the bottom of a double boiler. 
  2. Whip the heavy cream to stiff peaks. Cover and refrigerate.
  3. Whisk egg yolks with 1/4 cup sugar, vanilla, & 1/4 cup ice wine (if using). Transfer to the top of the double boiler and whisk vigorously (or use a hand blender) until mixture is thick and foamy. Remove the top pan from heat and continue whisking until the zabaglione is completely cool. Gently fold zabaglione into the whipped cream and chill for 30 minutes.
  4. While the zabaglione is chilling, wash, pit, and chop peaches into bite sized pieces. I prefer to leave the skin on but you can peel it off if you prefer.
  5. Put peaches into a saucepan with water, remaining ice wine (if using), and sprinkle with remaining sugar. Bring to a low boil and reduce slightly. Peaches should be soft but firm.
  6. Crush cookies into crumbs.
  7. To assemble, place a shallow layer of cookie crumbs in a serving dish/bowl/glass. Spoon cooked peaches over top with some of the sauce. Top with zabaglione cream and another sprinkle of cookies.
  8. Enjoy!