Ginger Wine Zabaglione with Mango

I bought a bottle of Green Ginger Wine for Christmas and it has been languishing on the shelf half full/half empty for several weeks now and in need of some attention. I had been thinking of trying to use it in a trifle when I remembered about another custard type dessert that goes well with fruit, that lovely Italian dish zabaglione.

Well I am delighted to say that substituting the Marsala with the Ginger Wine worked very well and produced a delicious zingy custard. The recipe I followed was from Michel Roux Jr and can be found on the BBC food website and the only change  I made to the custard was to use Ginger Wine instead of Marsala and a little less sugar. The basic formula scaled down to 1 egg is:

• 1 free-range egg yolk
• half an egg shell's worth of Ginger Wine
• 1 tbsp caster sugar(or less if like me you prefer less sweet desserts)

I think 1 egg yolk per person should produce enough but in the original recipe 5 yolks are used to serve four people. Have everything ready for serving before you start so you can complete the dish while it is still warm. 

For the mango fruit layer I cooked the peeled and cubed mango (which was under-ripe) in some of the ginger wine, cooking it until tender and adding more wine as needed to keep it just moist.

Once the mango was cooked I started to make the ginger zabaglione, and for this I use a small bain-marie pot that sits on  top of a pan of just simmering water.

I added the egg yolk to the pan and then used the largest half shell to measure in the ginger wine. If you like less alcohol maybe use the smaller half shell for measuring. I then added about a large tsp of sugar rather than the tablespoon in the basic recipe.

The mixture is then whisked steadily and constantly until it thickens and becomes light and foamy. Do not walk away and leave on the heat or you will have a scrambled sauce.

Serve up quickly while the custard is still warm. It is nicer still if the fruit is still just warm from cooking.

Spoon in the cooked fruit, pour on the ginger zabalione and finish with a sponge finger or another favourite dessert biscuit.

I am submitting this post to the Bangers and Mash Spice Trail Challenge which this month is all about Ginger!