So far on the blog, I have strictly alternated between sweet and savoury recipes. I’ve mostly done this for the sake of my waistline – to stop me getting too carried away with puddings. But I got so excited when I made zabaglione for the first time that it simply couldn’t wait.

I’ve always been aware of the existence of this famous Italian dessert, but never eaten it or made it before. I had to ask an Italian who comes into the café where I work how it is pronounced. It took him a while to decipher what I meant by ‘Zabag…Zabagglionee-  you know….that frothy thing with eggs..’. ‘Zabalyioney’, is correct, if you’re wondering. Said in an Italian accent with lots of gesturing. Almost as much fun to say as it is to eat.

Zabaglione only has three ingredients: egg yolks, sugar, and alcohol. But this is a case of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts. There is a magical moment during the whisking when the mixture increases in volume, morphing into this amazing foamy, meringue-like substance. It is traditionally made with Marsala wine, but I used amaretto liqueur, as I love the stuff. I also added some crushed amaretti biscuits to give a bit of textural contrast to all the voluptuous creaminess.

You’ll need an electric whisk and a large bowl big enough to fit over a pan of water.

Serves 2

3 egg yolks

2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp Disaronno (Amaretto liqueur)

70g amaretti biscuits, crushed

Crush the amaretti biscuits and place half in the bottom of two wine glasses or champagne flutes. Put the yolks and sugar together in a bowl and whisk with an electric whisk until pale. Add amaretto liqueur and whisk again. Set the bowl over a pan of simmering water, and whisk until increased in volume and meringue-like in texture. This will take at least five minutes. Spoon the mixture straight away into the glasses, and sprinkle over the remaining crushed biscuits. Serve immediately.