All you need is a whisk and a freezer – no ice-cream maker necessary …
With temperatures hitting over 30°C in London recently, my assistant Grace – an incredible chef in her own right whose Substack I highly recommend – decided to make a semifreddo with cherries for the team, which went down a treat! I made it recently for my sister, but my niece ate half the cherries, so I split the mix to make two smaller versions: one with cherries, and another with apricots and stem ginger, which I prepped in the same way. @kittycoles
SEMIFREDDO WITH FRUIT
Ingredients (serves 6-8)
For the fruit swirl:
• 300g cherries, pitted
• 1 tbsp water
• 10g brown sugar (or more caster sugar)
• 10g caster sugar
• 1 tbsp Amarena or Maraschino cherries
• 1 tbsp cherries syrup (optional)
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Pinch of salt
• Cracked black pepper
For the semifreddo base:
• 3 eggs, separated
• 50g caster sugar, plus 1 tbsp
• 300ml double cream
• 1 1/2 tbsp almond essence
• Pinch of salt
Method
1. Line a 1lb loaf tin with cling film or baking paper.
2. Slice the fruit into medium chunks so they soften slightly while holding their shape, then gently cook with water and both sugars over medium heat for about 10 minutes, until it has a syrup consistency. Let this cool, stir in lemon juice, Amarena cherries and syrup, salt and pepper.
3. Whisk the egg whites with 50g sugar until stiff peaks form. In another bowl, beat the yolks with 1 tbsp sugar until pale and doubled in volume, then stir in almond essence. In a third bowl, whip the cream to soft peaks.
4. Fold the yolk mixture into the whipped cream and gently fold in egg whites in two or three additions, using a whisk if needed to keep the mixture airy.
5. Pour half the semifreddo into the tin, spoon in half of the cherry mix, then repeat. Swirl slightly if you like. Freeze for at least three hours or overnight.
6. Slice and serve with extra cherries and whipped cream if you prefer.