Summer is officially here! It's the season of heat and humidity — and not turning the oven on unless it’s absolutely necessary! The hot weather also means…the season of cool and refreshing desserts that involve minimal, if any baking.
In that vein, I offer you hazelnut semifreddo, a delicious, cool, churn-free frozen dessert with no special equipment required. I like to think of semifreddo as an elevated, almost soft-serve kind of ice cream that is easy to make. Once you learn the method, it is impressive and absolutely delicious. On top of that, feel free to adapt it and make your favorite flavors. It’s truly versatile.
I have made semifreddo for so many years now, I don’t think there’s a flavor I haven’t tried, including strawberry, pistachio, almond and amaretto, and rum and coconut. The list goes on and on, and the possibilities are endless. Run with it, use your creativity and make your favorite flavors!
As with all of my recipes, feel free to up the sugar if you have more of a sweet tooth, and use your creativity and imagination.
A note about hazelnut: if you really want the taste of nocciola like you get in Italy, do yourself a favor and get hazelnuts DOP from Piemonte. Hazelnuts are not all the same, and the reason why Italian ones are so good is because the actual nut is different from what we get here in the United States. That said, hazelnuts DOP from Piemonte can be hard to find and costly, so I suggest Trader Joe’s hazelnuts as a lower-cost alternative. I strongly suggest buying hazelnuts and hazelnut flour in Italy and bringing it back, though, when possible.
Hazelnut Semifreddo Mio Modo (my way)
8
servings30
minutes30
minutesIngredients
4 4 eggs, separated (medium organic)
1/2 cup 1/2 sugar
3/4 cup 3/4 hazelnuts, (preferably imported from Piemonte) ground
1 pint 1 heavy cream
1 tbsp. 1 sugar
1/4 cup 1/4 water
2 tbsp. 2 sugared cocoa from Italy (or more, to taste) or 2 tbsp cocoa mixed with 1 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
1 drop 1 Frangelico (optional)
Directions
- Separate eggs well.
- Beat egg whites till stiff peaks form and transfer to another bowl.
- Whip cream till just before stiff peaks form.
- Beat egg yolks with 1/c sugar till light and fluffy, about 7 - 8 minutes.
- Add in some of the ground hazelnuts and Frangelico into yolks and sugar.
- In a bagna maria or over a double boiler, dissolve 1 tbsp sugar in about 1/4 cup water.
- Heat till sugar dissolves and it bubbles.
- Slowly, take a spoon of the boiling sugared water and add to yolks/sugar while continuing to mix.
- Add about three spoons of water (discard the rest of the sugar water).
- Add in rest of the ground hazelnuts and the sugared cocoa.
- Add the yolks/hazelnut cocoa mixture to the whipped cream and finish whipping till stiff peaks form.
- Gently fold in the egg whites.
- Once all ingredients are combined, mix gently in mixer to smooth it out.
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