A classic recipe for the best strawberry semifreddo. An Italian dessert served sliced straight from the tin, with the texture of the finest ice cream. No ice cream maker is used in this recipe, which means that to achieve a light and fluffy semifreddo we do not need the air that is incorporated during the freezing process; whipped double cream fulfils this role. Before freezing, semifreddo has the consistency of a fruit mousse, and that is how I like to describe it – as a frozen, delicious strawberry mousse :).
Ingredients for strawberry semifreddo:
- 250 g strawberries
- 110 g (½ cup) sugar
- 1 large egg
- 3 large egg yolks
- 300 ml double cream, chilled
Wash and hull the strawberries. Slice them. Place them in a small saucepan with half of the sugar from the recipe (¼ cup). Bring to the boil, stirring, and cook for about 5–7 minutes until the strawberries begin to break down slightly. Remove from the heat and leave to cool.
Prepare a bowl of ice-cold water (cold water with ice cubes). Line a loaf tin measuring 11 x 25 cm at the top and 9 x 23 cm at the base with baking parchment or cling film.
Place the egg, egg yolks and the remaining sugar (¼ cup) into a metal bowl. Beat until pale (using whisk attachments), until the mixture increases greatly in volume and becomes very fluffy. Add the cooled strawberries and beat until combined.
Prepare a saucepan with water (about 2 cm deep). Bring to the boil and reduce the heat. Place the bowl containing the egg and strawberry mixture over the saucepan of steaming water, making sure that the bowl does not touch the water. Beat (continuing to use the whisk attachments) for 3–4 minutes until the mixture thickens noticeably (when lifted on the whisk, it will leave a trail as it falls back onto the surface of the mixture). Immediately place the finished mixture into the ice bath (in the bowl in which it was prepared) and leave for 5 minutes, stirring from time to time.
Whip the double cream. Add it to the cooled egg and strawberry mixture and gently fold together. Transfer to the prepared loaf tin, level the surface and freeze. After 6 hours the semifreddo is ready to serve. Alternatively, freeze overnight and before serving leave at room temperature for 5–10 minutes before slicing. Serve with fresh strawberries.
Enjoy!
Recipe source: Fine Cooking.
I read all comments, but unfortunately I can't answer them all. Before posting a question, make sure nobody has asked a similar one (this will be facilitated by the search engine included in the comments). Comments with links may not be published.
Blog author