Semifreddo ice-cream
Question:
I always wanted to try making home-made ice-cream. I especially love the ones from the ice-cream houses in Europe with chunks of nuts and fruits. Can you help me out with tips or recipes?
Answer:
Ice cream or ice-cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, and in some cases, artificial flavourings and colourings are used in replacement of the natural ingredients. This mixture is stirred slowly while cooling to prevent large ice crystals from forming; the result is a smoothly textured ice cream.
The meaning of the term ice cream varies from one country to another. Terms like frozen custard, frozen yogurt, sorbet, gelato and others are used to distinguish different varieties and styles. In some countries, like the USA, the term ice cream applies only to a specific variety, and their governments regulate the commercial use of all these terms based on quantities of ingredients. In others, like Italy and Argentina, one word is used for all the variants.
Semifreddo is an ice-cream that is not churned, and is one of the easiest ice creams to make. It has a slight crystaline texture and is all the rage around the world. At Wickedfood Cooking School we make a semifreddo in one of our Italian cooking classes. Serve it with some fresh berries. Instead of Noble Late Harvest, use the same quantity of Hanepoot, Masala or puréed fruit (if using puréed fruit, sweeten with sugar, bearing in mind that freezing reduces sweetness, and intensifies sour so always use a little extra sugar). Make meringues with the leftover egg whites.
6 egg yolks
1/2 cup castor sugar
3/4 cup Noble Late Harvest (see above
1 lemon, zest and juice of
375ml cream, lightly whipped
Fresh berries
- Whisk the egg yolks, sugar, Noble Late Harvest and lemon zest and juice until light and fluffy.
- Place in a double boiler, or heat proof bowl over a pot of simmering water and continue to whisk until thick and almost double in volume.
- Remove from the heat and allow to cool, whisking from time to time.
- Once cooled, fold in the cream, and pour into a ±20cm by 10cm loaf tin.
- Cover with tin foil or cling film and place in the freezer until firm enough to slice – ±6 hours.
- To serve, remove from the freezer and allow to stand for 10 minutes, before turning out. Serve in slices with fresh berries or a fresh berry coulis.
Serves 6-10
More ice-cream recipes:
Strawberry Cake Batter Ice Cream
Wickedfood cooking school, Sunninghill
(011) 234-3252 sunninghill@wickedfood.co.za
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