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Please Fave the original Here

Something yummy from !

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(Apologies for the poor picture on this. Cell phone was not cooperating this evening, and the camera was at home.)

Inspired by the original recipe from Martha Washington, as demonstrated on the Townsend video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2AG545WIsg )

Vrghr watched this episode recently, and thought it looked like a nice dessert. Though, perhaps, a rather time-intensive one for the cook! Nearly an hour of stirring involved!

Then became aware that there was apparently a huge political boo ha ha surrounding this innocent dessert! So, like the Meme-tastic "Avocado Toasts", Vrghr just HAD to give this a spin, to see what all the fuss was about!

Wuff was a bit too lazy to consider nearly an hour of continuous stirring was worth it, just to create a lightly orange-flavored custard. And the video indicated it was quite mildly flavored, for all that, with just a hint of orange in a mostly eggy custard mixture. The prominent flavor mentioned was nutmeg.

Wuffy was SURE he could do a bit better, and easier, than that. But Vrghr wanted to keep the original's somewhat "loose" custard texture and flavor, and not go for the more modern versions he'd found on the 'net. Most of those were fluffy, whipped and "moose" like.

Ah, but something was rattling about in that floofy canine noggin; Vrghr had heard of another recipe with very similar ingredients, and prep, to the video version! A quick net search confirmed the wuff's (rather unreliable) memory: Italian Zabaione (Also known as sabayon) is very similar to what was shown on the video.

An egg custard, made with egg yolks, sugar, citrus, and a sweet wine, cooked slowly and carefully. Substitute an orange juice reduction for the wine, and the two were "kissin' cousins"! Some versions even included the cream shown in the video version.

The wuffy was on his way! Vrghr created a reduction of fresh-squeezed orange juice, some fresh lemon juice (because the show mentioned the original using a "Seville Orange", which is bitter orange, much more tart than the American navel oranges wuff used. Vrghr also added some Orange liqueur, and the zest of both the orange and lemon, to pump up the flavors. The mixture was reduced by half, to concentrate the flavors and bring the quantity more in line with the 1/3 C used in most of the Zabaione recipes.

Vrghr didn't filter or strain his reduction. This left tart little nodules of zest in the fool, which wuff thinks added a very nice bit of interest to the dish.

Result? A wonderful, nicely orange-flavored custard, sweet enough to satisfy the kids but tasty and complex enough to please adults. Very smooth and creamy!

And so tasty that folks grabbed drinking straws so they could suck the very last drop out of the bottom of the stems of those plastic glasses! *GRIN* Certainly a success! And something wuff is going to be making again! Perhaps in a strawberry version next time!

Something wuff will try to improve next time - whip the cream a bit stiffer. That will help both the presentation, and the 'body' of the custard, in Vrghr's opinion.

Vrghr's version probably isn't going to raise as much cain as the original video did. But give it a try yourself, and see if it isn't good enough to tweet about to your friends! *big grin*

Ingredients:
For the Orange Reduction
Zest of one large navel orange
Zest of 1/2 Lemon
Juice of two large navel oranges + 1 C good Orange Juice
Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/3 C Orange Liqueur
1 Tbs granulated Sugar

For the Zabaione
7 Egg Yolks
1/3 C granulated Sugar
1 Tbs Orange Liqueur
1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
1/4 tsp ground Nutmeg
The Orange Reduction (about 1/3-1/2 C)
~3 TBS Butter

For the Cream
1 1/2 C Heavy Creme
1/3 C granulated Sugar
1 Tbs Orange Liqueur
2 tsp Orange Zest
1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:
Whip the Cream[/]
Place a large bowl in the refrigerator until chilled (Cream beats better and stiffer when cold). Make sure the cream is chilled too.
Place all the cream ingredients in a large, chilled bowl. Whisk or beat until soft peaks form. Refrigerate until needed.

[i]Reduce the Orange sauce
Put all the ingredients in a medium sauce pan over medium high heat. Stir together until sugar dissolves
Bring to a low boil/high simmer, and reduce until about 1/3-1/2 C remains, stirring occasionally
Remove from heat and retain

Create the Zabaione
Bring a large pot with about an inch or so of water in the bottom to a heavy boil
Put all the ingredients except the butter into a large metal bowl that will fit over the boiling pot WITHOUT touching the water
Hold the bowl with a kitchen towel or pot holder and whisk the mixture vigorously and continuously until it turns light and frothy and triples in volume. The sauce will be a bit thin. Continue whisking and cooking until it thicken to a soft pudding
Remove from heat and add the butter. Continue whisking for another 5 minutes or so, until the bowl cools down some, so the custard doesn't stick and coagulate on the surface of the bowl
Place the custard into the refrigerator for about an hour (or more) to chill and set up some.
Once the custard has cooled, gently fold in most of the whipped cream with a whisk. Reserve some for the topping/garnish

Assemble:
Scoop some of the cooled custard into a serving cup. Top with a bit of the whipped cream. If desired, garnish with a dash of nutmeg or some candied orange peel.

!!DEVOUR!!