Sous Vide Zabaglione Lemon Cream Cake Trifle with delicate layers of champagne-spiked Italian cream, cake and fresh berries.
If you still have one of those Italian cakes sitting around from the holidays, this Sous Vide Zabaglione Lemon Cream Cake Trifle is the perfect way to use it up. I could totally see you serving this up at Valentine's Day brunch!
Someone from the Dude's work gave him what I thought were two Panettones - you know, the traditional Italian Christmas cake. One was heavily speckled with candied fruit and raisins and the other was striped with lemon liqueur cream. Because I got no love for raisins baked into anything, I naturally went for the latter.
Upon closer inspection, I noticed the brightly coloured, tent-shaped box said Pandoro and not Panettone. With my Italian limited to 'ciao', 'mangia', 'gelato' and 'incontrami al ristorate', I assumed they were one in the same.
However, not only do they differ in shape - Panettone is dome-shaped, while Pandoro is shaped like a star - turns out they hail from different regions, Milan and Verona, respectively. The process for making each differs, as well, but both are popular holiday treats just the same.
Anyhoo, the Pandoro cake, generously laced with citrus cream, was quite tasty and I knew right away it would be a nice addition to this trifle.
Zabaglione also hails from Italy. With just egg yolks, sugar and fortified wine (like marsala) it is very easy to make, and it tastes amazing. It can also be made with champagne, which is what I've used here, as I felt it worked better with the citrusy cake.
Yes, you can make this stove-top, but like I've said before, I get better results when I cook custards sous vide. Because of the precise temperature, I don't burn or curdle the eggs, which means I get silky, smooth results with little effort.
On a side note, I was quite pleased to receive notes from a few of my IG peeps who were inspired by my #sousvidesundayseries stories and are now proud sous vide owners!! I've also converted three colleagues at work!
Sweet Tips for Sous Vide Zabaglione Lemon Cream Cake Trifle:
- For best results, ensure the cream, bowl and whisk are cool when whipping the cream. Whip just to stiff peaks. Over whipping will make for a grainy finish.
- No sous vide? No problem. You can make the stove-top version, where you whisk the egg and sugar mixture to ribbon stage over a double boiler. Then you would add the alcohol.
- If enjoying it warm, simply spoon over some fresh berries, or you can enjoy it chilled with the help of whipped cream (my preference). If enjoying warm, eat immediately. The chilled variation should be eaten within six hours of preparation.
- If contrasting textures aren't important to you, you can skip toasting the cake, or you can skip the cake altogether and enjoy with fruit.
Ingredients
Special Equipment:
For the whipped cream:
- 118 milliliters 35% whipping cream
- vanilla bean paste to taste
For the custard:
- 4 large egg yolks
- 48 grams sugar confectioners' or granulated
- 118 milliliters champagne or a fortified or sweet wine
- raspberries
- citrus zest to garnish
For the cake:
- 1 slice lemon cream cake I used Pandoro Italian cake
Instructions
Prepare the water bath:
- Heat your sous vide water bath to 74ºC/165ºF.
Make the custard:
- Add the cream to a chilled stainless steel bowl and whisk to medium-firm peaks. Cover and set aside in the refrigerator.
- Add the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl and whisk until the mixture thickens to ribbon stage. Whisk in the champagne. Add the mixture to a ziplock bag and submerge in the heated water bath using the water displacement method. Cook for 20 minutes.
- Remove from the water bath, add to a stainless steel bowl and chill by whisking over an ice bath, or place in the refrigerator. Once cooled, fold in the whipped cream. Keep chilled.
Prepare the cake:
- Cut a generous chunk of the cake into cubes and toast in a toaster oven or oven until lightly crisped. Set aside to cool.
Assemble the dessert:
- Layer the berries, cake and custard in dessert cups. Garnish with a citrus zest.
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