The official start of summer may be  two months away, but fresh fruit has started hitting the shelves and I can wait no more.

This dessert is drawn from a picture I saw in a Swedish cooking magazine, so I decided to put my own spin on it. Though you may raise an eyebrow at sabayon, it may just be your new favorite dessert (yes, it can be eaten by itself, as the French do). It’s light, airy, creamy, sweet and screams of summer.

You may see this labeled as “advanced,” but don’t let that scare you. It’s there because you have to be a bit mindful with the eggs.

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

Advanced Course

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 50 minutes
Total Time: 60 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:
For meringue:
3 egg whites
1 and 1/4 cup sugar

For sabayon:
7 egg yolks
3 and 1/2 tbsp sugar

For topping:
2 cups fresh berries, like strawberries, raspberries, blueberries (really, whatever you want)

Directions:

1. Separate the egg whites from the yolks. Crack the egg in half  and keep the yolk in the shell. Transfer the yolk from one shell half to the other and let the egg whites drip out into a bowl below. Then, put the yolk in another bowl. Note: Don’t let any of the yolk get into the egg whites for the meringue or the next step won’t work!

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

2. Whip up the egg whites with 3/4 cup of sugar until it forms into hard peaks. Slowly mix in the rest of the sugar.

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

3. Place baking paper onto a baking sheet and form the meringue mixture into a circle on the sheet. Preheat oven to 275°F. Bake the meringue in the oven for 35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

4. While the meringue is baking, wash the berries and cut up the strawberries. Put them aside.

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

5. For the sabayon: separate four more eggs. Put the egg whites to the side, and stir together the four eggs yolks with the three left over from Step 1 in a heat-safe bowl. Place the bowl with the yolks in a pot with simmering water. Add the sugar to the yolks. Whisk the mixture until it is fluffy and thick.

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

7. Take out cooled meringue and spread the sabayon on top. Tower the fruits on the dessert. And voilá!

meringue

Photo by Caitlin Wolper

Check out these posts for more summer lovin’ foods: