Semifreddo
Semifreddo is the way to make ice cream without a machine: instead of churning the mixture as it freezes, you beat the air in up front. Whipped egg foam and whipped cream build a structure in which ice crystals have no room to grow. That is why it comes out of the freezer creamy and sliceable, without a single churn along the way.
Your own work in that: 0 min.
- Praline 15 min
- Egg foam 12 min
- Whipped cream 8 min
- Freezing 360 min
- Serving 5 min
Step by step
0 / 7 doneToast the nuts and make the praline
Toast the hazelnuts for 10 minutes at 170°C and rub off the skins in a cloth. Melt the sugar dry, without stirring, just swirling the pan, until amber, add the nuts and salt and tip onto paper. Once cool, break into coarse shards.
Ingredients: 150 g hazelnuts · 150 g sugar · 1 pinch salt
Amber caramel over the nuts, then onto paper.Whisk the yolks over steam
Whisk the yolks with 60 g of sugar over a bain-marie for 8 minutes, until tripled in volume and at about 70°C — clearly hot to the touch. Take off the heat and keep whisking until it cools. The heat warms the yolks through and stabilises the foam — in a dessert that never sees the oven, this is the only heat treatment there is.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 500 ml whipping cream (36%) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp rum
Egg foam tripled in volume and hot to the touch.Whip the whites and cream separately
Whip the whites with the remaining sugar to stiff peaks, and in another bowl the very cold cream to soft peaks with the vanilla and rum. Cream whipped stiff turns grainy when folded in and the dessert loses its smoothness.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 500 ml whipping cream (36%) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp rum
Combine the three in order
Fold the cream into the cooled yolks first, then the whites, in two additions, cutting from the bottom with a spatula. The order matters: the denser cream loosens the base, and the fragile white foam goes in last, when vigorous mixing is no longer needed.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 500 ml whipping cream (36%) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp rum
Cream first, whites second — the mixture stays airy.Line a tin and layer it up
Line a loaf tin about 30 cm long (about 2 litres) with cling film with plenty of overhang and layer the mixture with the praline, saving a handful for the top. The film is the only way to turn the dessert out whole — without it, semifreddo has to be dug out.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 500 ml whipping cream (36%) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp rum
Film with overhang, praline between the layers.Freeze for at least six hours
Fold the film over the top and freeze for 6 hours, ideally overnight. There is nothing to stir or check — the air you beat in does the work an ice cream machine would.
Ingredients: 4 pcs eggs · 120 g sugar · 500 ml whipping cream (36%) · 1 tsp vanilla extract · 2 tbsp rum
Wait 5 minutes before slicing
Lift it out by the film, turn it onto a board and wait 5 minutes before cutting. Straight from the freezer semifreddo is hard and tastes flat; after five minutes it softens to a creamy texture and its flavour comes back. Meanwhile make the ganache: heat the 80 ml of cream until almost boiling, pour it over the chopped chocolate, wait a minute and stir until smooth. Pour the warm ganache over the slices.
Ingredients: 100 g dark chocolate · 80 ml whipping cream (36%)
Before you start
Why no machine is needed
Ice crystals grow in water, and here almost every droplet is surrounded by fat or air. It is the same principle a churn relies on — except you beat the air in up front instead of stirring for an hour.
Other inclusions
Crushed meringue, amaretti, candied peel or raspberries all work in place of praline. Avoid fresh, watery fruit — it freezes rock hard and breaks up the texture.
Raw whites
The yolks are heated over steam; the whites are not. If the dessert is for children, anyone pregnant or older people, whip the whites into an Italian meringue by pouring in sugar syrup at 118°C.
