Panettone with chocolate, zabaglione and mascarpone cream and ‘semi-secco’ marsala

With the traditional emphasis on port and, to a lesser extent, sherry at Christmas, it’s easy to forget the virtues of marsala, an equally festive drink. Especially as I discovered last week at my friend cookery writer Thane Prince’s with a rich, boozy panettone.

It was made by Francesco Mazzei’s team at L’Anima and was filled with a wickedly rich chocolate mascarpone cream and zabaglione and mascarpone cheese cream. You can find the recipe - should you care to have a crack at it - on the Guardian website

As the zabaglione included marsala it made sense to drink the same drink with it. Thane had a ‘semi-secco’ (medium dry) marsala fine I.P. from Cantine Pellegrino in her drinks cupboard which worked well given the richness of the dessert but you could go for broke and try a sweeter, ‘dolce’ version. Or even a sweet sherry if you don’t have marsala to hand. It should be served lightly chilled.

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