Semifreddo alle fragole

I don’t have much of a sweet tooth, but I love me a semifreddo. As mentioned our earlier post on the subject, a semifreddo is one of the easier Italian frozen desserts to make at home. The initial prep takes perhaps 20 minutes (assuming you have a standing or hand mixer) and then you need only arm yourself with patience for a few hours while it firms up in the freezer.

Unlike other frozen desserts like gelato, sorbetto or granita, no churning or stirring is needed to make a semifreddo. Essentially a frozen mousse, it remains fluffy and creamy because of the egg yolks, egg whites and cream, which are each whipped separately with the sugar until frothy. The air and sugar, along with the optional liqueur, keeps the semifreddo getting too cold and hardening too much. That said, like other frozen desserts, a semifreddo improves after a few minutes at room temperature before serving.

Once you’ve gotten the basic technique down, you can make almost infinite varieties of semifreddi. In the spring, my go to is semifreddo alle fragole or Strawberry Semifreddo. You prepare the basic batter, then fold in a quickly made strawberry purée, which I like to lace with a drizzle of Cointreau. After pouring this batter into a mold, either a loaf pan for serving homestyle or individual molds for a more elegant touch, it’s into the freezer.

You can serve your semifreddo alle fragole if you like accompanied with fresh strawberries or a coulis, or both. A few mint leaves for color or freshness wouldn’t be amiss, either. It’s quite a sight to behold. It may be easy, but a semifreddo alla fragole looks awfully elegant—a kind of gussied up version of strawberries and cream—guaranteed to elicit oohs and aahs from your guests.

Ingredients

Makes a large loaf serving at least 6

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 heaping Tb confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

For the whipped cream:

• 350ml (1-1/2 cups) heavy cream
• 1 heaping Tb confectioner’s (powdered) sugar

For the egg yolk cream:

• 3 egg yolks
• 50g (2 oz) sugar, preferably caster (superfine) sugar

For the strawberry purée:

• 250g (1/2 lb) strawberries, trimmed
• 50 g (2 oz) sugar, preferably caster (superfine) sugar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• A drizzle of Cointreau (optional)

For the topping, one or more of the following:

• 200g (7 oz) strawberries, trimmed, sliced or whole
• 250ml (1 cup) strawberry coulis, prepared as in this recipe
• fresh mint leaves

Directions

Prepare the meringue

Separate the eggs and place in separate bowls. Whip the egg whites with heaping tablespoonful of confectioner’s sugar until they form stiff peaks. 

Prepare the whipped cream

In another bowl, whip the cream with a heaping tablespoonful of confectioner’s sugar until it, too, forms stiff peaks. 

Prepare the egg yolk cream

In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until the sugar has entirely melted and the yolks have taken on a light, frothy texture. 

Prepare the strawberry purée

Place the strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and a good squeeze of lemon juice and toss. If using, drizzle over the Cointreau and toss again. (To save time, you can do this before preparing the other components above.)

Let rest for 10 minutes, tossing from time to time, until the sugar has completely melted into the strawberries to form a kind of strawberry syrup.

Transfer the strawberries to a blender and purée until smooth.

Mix the semifreddo batter

Add the whipped whites and cream into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture, gingerly folding them into the mix with a spatula. Use a circular motion, scooping up from the bottom of the bowl until you have a uniform batter. 

Little by little, drizzle in the strawberry purée as you fold it, too, into the batter.

Freeze

Line a loaf pan or individual serving-sized molds with plastic wrap (cling film) and pour in your batter. Smooth out the top(s) as much as you can, then cover with more plastic wrap. 

Place the mold(s) in the freezer and leave it for at least 4-5 hours if using a loaf pan or 2-3 hours for individual molds.

Serve

When you are ready to eat, let the semifreddo rest at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before unmolding it onto a serving plate for slicing (if using a loaf pan) or onto dessert plates if using individual molds.

Top if you like with strawberries, coulis or mint leaves, as you prefer.

Notes on semifreddo alle fragole

Like so many dishes, the quality of the ingredients will make all the difference, especially for the star of the show, the strawberries. If you’ve ever had strawberries from a farmer’s market or, even better, your own garden, you know they inhabit a whole other universe of flavor compared with the mass prodcued specimens you’re likely to find in your local supermarket.

As I’ve written about before, even if they usually look appetizing, most fruit in these times of industrial agriculture needs help in the flavor department. Strawberries are a case in point. A juicy, sweet, ruby red ripe strawberry is a miracle of nature. The ones you’re likely to find in the typical supermarket, however plump and ripe they may look on the shelf, turn out to be underripe and almost tasteless when you bite into them. It’s a story reminiscent of what’s happened to the tomato.

That said, this recipe will also work with supermarket strawberries. In fact, the brief maceration doesn’t figure in Italian recipes for semifreddo alle fragole. That’s a little trick for coaxing flavor out of fruit I borrowed from the recipe for macedonia di frutta. It will turn those insipid supermarket strawberries into something worth eating, and good strawberries into something remarkable. 

Preparation tips

Believe it or not, I find the trickiest part of making a semifreddo alle fragole, or any semifreddo, is lining the mold with plastic wrap. Perhaps it was my brand but it’s damn hard to get it to stay in place. It also tends to leave unattrctive creases in the semifreddo when unmolded, though those you can smooth over. If you use flexible silicon mold you shouldn’t need it.

Otherwise, you could always serve the semifreddo directly from the mold, either using individual ramekins you serve to your guests or, if you let it soften up enough, scooped out into bowls as if you were serving ice cream. Heterodox, perhaps, but it certainly saves you some effort!

For the individual molds, you can use anything that’s freezer proof. I just used ceramic coffee cups, but you could use ramekins or even a muffin pan.

You can also adjust the amount of sugar to suit your taste. The result here is just about right for me, but I don’t have much of a sweet tooth. Recipes are all over the map, with both more and less than called for here. Strawberries can vary wildly in their sweetness, and some can be quite tart. Give your strawberries a taste before you add the sugar and adjust the amount of sugar accordingly.

For more background on semifreddi, including how this dessert got its name (which means “semi cold”) and a few more tips on its preparation, see our this post.

Variations

If you want more texture in your semifreddo alle fragole, you can chop some of the strawberries rather than puréeing them all. Or just purée them less finely, leaving some bits and pieces. You can also cook the strawberry purée if you like, as you would a coulis. This concentrates the flavor, which isn’t a bad idea if your strawberries aren’t the best. But I personally prefer the fresher taste of uncooked strawberries. You can also leave the strawberry purée partially unmixed, so it forms swirls in the batter, if you like that look better than an uniform pink.

If you’re wary of using raw eggs, you can always opt for pasteurized eggs. Or you can make an eggless semifreddo using just whipped cream and strawberry purée. (Disclaimer: I’ve seen recipes but haven’t tested them, so proceed at your own risk!) In some recipes, the egg yolks are gently heated as you add the sugar (see this post) but I’m not sure if the low heat would kill the bacteria. And in any event, there’s still the raw egg whites in the meringue to consider.

Not all recipes include the creamed egg mixture, sometimes called a pâte à bombe, but I find it lends a lovely velvety richness to the semifreddo. And unless you have other uses for the yolks, why let them go to waste? Personally, I detest throwing out food.

Making ahead

Semifreddo alle fragole is one of those dishes you need to make ahead, since it requires at least a few hours in the freezer. Like gelato, you can keep a semifreddo in the freezer for more or less as long as you like, provided you wrap it well to prevent freezer burn. Or so I’m told. I can’t speak from experience as it’s never lasted that long in our house…

Print Recipe

Semifreddo alle fragole

Ingredients

For the meringue:

• 3 egg whites
• 1 heaping Tb confectioner’s powdered sugar

For the whipped cream:

• 350 ml 1-1/2 cups heavy cream
• 1 heaping Tb confectioner’s powdered sugar

For the egg yolk cream:

• 3 egg yolks
• 50 g 2 oz sugar, preferably caster (superfine) sugar

For the strawberry purée:

• 250 g 1/2 lb strawberries, trimmed
• 50 g 2 oz sugar, preferably caster (superfine) sugar
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• A drizzle of Cointreau optional

For the topping, one or more of the following:

• 200 g 7 oz strawberries, trimmed, sliced or whole
• 250 ml 1 cup strawberry coulis, prepared as in this recipe
• fresh mint leaves

Instructions

Prepare the meringue

• Separate the eggs and place in separate bowls. Whip the egg whites with heaping tablespoonful of confectioner’s sugar until they form stiff peaks.

Prepare the whipped cream

• In another bowl, whip the cream with a heaping tablespoonful of confectioner’s sugar until it, too, forms stiff peaks.

Prepare the egg yolk cream

• In a large mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the caster sugar until the sugar has entirely melted and the yolks have taken on a light, frothy texture.

Prepare the strawberry purée

• Place the strawberries in a large mixing bowl. Sprinkle with the sugar and a good squeeze of lemon juice and toss. If using, drizzle over the Cointreau and toss again. (To save time, you can do this before preparing the other components above.)
• Let rest for 10 minutes, tossing from time to time, until the sugar has completely melted into the strawberries to form a kind of strawberry syrup.
• Transfer the strawberries to a blender and purée until smooth.

Mix the semifreddo batter

• Add the whipped whites and cream into the bowl with the egg yolk mixture, gingerly folding them into the mix with a spatula. Use a circular motion, scooping up from the bottom of the bowl until you have a uniform batter.
• Little by little, drizzle in the strawberry purée as you fold it, too, into the batter.

Freeze

• Line a loaf pan or individual serving-sized molds with plastic wrap (cling film) and pour in your batter. Smooth out the top(s) as much as you can, then cover with more plastic wrap.
• Place the mold(s) in the freezer and leave it for at least 4-5 hours if using a loaf pan or 2-3 hours for individual molds.

Serve

• When you are ready to eat, let the semifreddo rest at room temperature for about 15-20 minutes before unmolding it onto a serving plate for slicing (if using a loaf pan) or onto dessert plates if using individual molds.
• Accompany your semifreddo with strawberries, coulis or mint leaves, as you prefer.

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