Semifreddo: A Half-Frozen Dessert Like No Other
I never thought ice cream had a culinary contender, and then I met my new best friend: semifreddo. So what the heck is semifreddo? Italian for half-cold, semifreddo is a heavenly frozen dessert that sits on your tongue like a frothy cloud of creaminess—almost like a marriage of ice cream and mousse. Requiring no ice cream machine, semifreddo is mixed, then frozen in a simple loaf pan to be sliced like a cake. I gild the lily by adding in dollops of dulce de leche and Almond Roca crumbles. It’s a dessert that can be both light and decadent at the same time.
I’ll start by featuring the recipe and then followup below with photos of various steps in making the semifreddo.
Dulce de Leche Semifreddo
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 3 eggs
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup of dulce de leche
- ½ cup of dulce de leche (for dollops)
- 4-5 Almond Rocas
Instructions
- Line a 9 x5 loaf pan with plastic wrap or parchment.
- Combine heavy cream and vanilla.
- Whip until stiff peaks, refrigerate.
- Place metal bowl over simmering water (double boiler).
- Add eggs, yolks, sugar, salt and ½ cup dulce de leche.
- Whisk together until mixture reaches 165° F (won’t take long)
- Remove from heat, and transfer to a stand mixer.
- Whisk on medium high speed until mixture is cool and fluffy.
- Half way through, you may need to place the mixer bowl in a cold water bath to cool.
- Gently fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream into egg mixture.
- Once blended, add another 1/3 of whipped cream.
- Once blended, add remaining 1/3 of whipped cream.
- Fill loaf pan half way.
- Top with dollops of ½ cup of dulce de leche.
- Then add broken pieces of almond roca.
- Add remaining semifreddo to the top of pan.
- Freeze overnight.
- To serve, invert pan on platter, wait 5 minutes, remove pan, and paper.
- Slice with sharp knife dipped into hot water.
- Serve slices with caramel drizzle and almond roca crumbles (optional).
Note: I first tried semifreddo at a cooking class with chef Jay Guerrero at Kurtwood Farms. I adapted his semifreddo recipe to include dulce de leche and Almond Roca.
