semifreddo Archives - Sugar et al

I hope you had a lovely Valentine’s Day weekend. Are you tired of roses yet because I have some more coming up for you? No, not a Valentine’s Day hangover! I think I may be a bit old for that. This is just love.. plain and simple love for you guys, in edible form. Well, if you follow me on Instagram you might have seen these photos way back in January. I had so many treats to share with you that I had to hold on to this one. Which is a good in a way because while the weather in the southern hemisphere is still warm, my friends in the northern hemisphere are going to experience warmer temperatures soon. And this is a recipe worth making. It tastes beautiful and looks impressive!

I have had so much fun this summer making frozen delights without my ice cream maker that I doubt if it is going to see the light of the day at all. A semifreddo is a frozen Italian dessert much like an ice cream but the texture is richer and creamier like a mousse. It’s like eating a slab of frozen mousse. The base of this dessert is made of eggs and cream, much like a mousse. Since it takes up flavors really well, you can experiment with and have fun with many different combinations. But here’s my favorite bit, you do not need an ice cream machine!

Pistachios and rose water are like a super hit pair from my childhood. With the addition of blackberries, there is slight tartness and bite to the creamy semifreddo. You can also replace the blackberries with strawberries or raspberries with similar results.

You can serve the semifreddo in slices.

Or scoop it up like ice cream.

Blackberry, Pistachio And Rose Semifreddo (adapted with variation from here)
Serves 10

2 eggs
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup caster sugar
1 3/4 cups thickened cream, whipped
1/2 cup pistachio nuts skinned, roasted
1 tablespoon rosewater (or 1 tsp rose essence
250 g fresh blackberries
Rosebuds, to serve (optional)

Line a 6 cm-deep, 25 cm x 15 cm (base) loaf pan with plastic wrap/cling film, allowing a 5 cm overhang on both long ends.

Place eggs, egg yolks and sugar in a heatproof bowl. Place bowl over a saucepan of simmering water over low heat. Whisk for 4 to 5 minutes or until thick and creamy. Remove from heat. Whisk for 4 to 5 minutes or until cool.
Transfer mixture to a large bowl. Gently fold in cream, pistachio, rosewater and two-thirds of the blackberries. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Cover and freeze overnight or until firm.

Stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before turning out onto a plate. Top with remaining blackberries and rosebuds (if using)

Cookies anyone? Brownies? How about ice cream? Don’t even bother to answer that. Because I am going to give you all of these in one mammoth-ly delicious recipe. And you don’t even need an ice cream machine! Make it, freeze it and eat it the way you like. In scoops or cut it up into slices.

There are 3 elements in the recipe. The star of the show…which is the peanut butter semifreddo, peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and nutella brownies. Appears like a lot of work but trust me, it’s not. Here’s why. The cookies are a 5-ingredient wonder that take less than 20 minutes to make from start to finish, including baking time. And they are gluten free. Exactly the same way, the brownies are made with 3 ingredients and baked in ramekins. So you see it’s all about quick and smart cooking. You always have the choice of using store bought cookies and brownies but it really isn’t that hard to make them at home. Both are one-bowl recipes. And the outcome is so worth it.

You will be left over with plenty to cookies to eat later. The texture of the cookies are slightly different from those that use flour. I found them to be slightly crumbly which was great for the semifreddo but they would not store very well otherwise. I think I would freeze the dough next time and bake them as I need. I baked the brownies in ramekins and I managed to get 6 large ones. Feel free to halve the recipes if you don’t want a lot of extras.

This post is my contribution to Roxana’s Chocolate Party, this months smashing combo being Chocolate-Peanut butter. I’m terribly late this time but nevertheless I couldn’t miss the opportunity to unite with my fellow Chocolate lovers.

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookie+Brownie Semifreddo
Serves 6

3 egg yolks
1 egg
1/4 cup castor sugar
1 tsp vanilla essence
1 cup thickened or heavy cream, whipped to soft peaks
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (increase if you want a stronger taste)
1 nutella brownie, finely chopped (recipe below)
6 peanut butter cookies, crumbled (recipe below)

Use an electric mixer to whisk the egg, egg yolks and sugar in a medium heatproof bowl until thick and creamy. While continually whisking, place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk for 5 minutes or until mixture almost doubles in size. Remove from heat and set aside.

When egg yolk mixture has cooled down slightly, add the peanut butter and stir with a fork to blend in. Add half the cream to the egg mixture and fold in until combined (The peanut butter mixture thickens up quite a bit but adding cream would lighten it). Add the remaining cream, fold through till no white streaks appear. Gently fold in the brownie and cookies.

Pour into a 1 litre capacity metal or pyrex loaf tin. If you plan to serve the semifreddo in slices, you will need to line the base and sides of the pan with plastic wrap, allowing the sides to overhang. Place in the freezer for 6 hours or overnight until firm.

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Taste.com)
Makes 24 cookies

1 cup (260g) crunchy peanut butter
1 cup (200g) brown sugar
1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 cup (185g) dark choc bits

Preheat oven to 200 degrees C. Lightly grease two baking trays and line with non-stick baking paper. Combine peanut butter, sugar, bicarbonate of soda and egg in a bowl. Stir in choc bits.

Roll teaspoonfuls of the mixture into balls and place on the prepared tray. Press lightly with a fork. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until light golden. Leave to cool on the trays then place into an airtight container.

3 Ingredient Nutella Brownies (adapted from this recipe)
Makes 6 brownies

1 cup (280 g) Nutella
2 eggs
10 tbsp. (62 g) plain flour

Preheat oven to 180 degrees C.

Place all the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Mix till smooth. Spoon into muffin cases or a baking tray or ramekins. Bake for 30 minutes (longer if you are using a baking tray) or until a skewer inserted into the centres comes out with a few crumbs. Remove from oven, cool for 5 minutes and turn onto a wire rack to cool completely.