Semifreddo ice cream recipe. Semifreddo - real Italian ice cream

Semifreddo is one of the simplest ice creams to prepare, but it is no less delicious. I cook it with a lot of hazelnuts, because I can’t deny myself the pleasure of eating this delicious nut.

To make this ice cream you only need 5 ingredients, I think they can be found in any kitchen.

First thing I'll do is the hazelnuts. I previously peeled it and now it needs to be fried. I do this in a frying pan with a drop of vegetable oil. Instead of hazelnuts, you can use almonds, I also tried cooking with walnuts, it turns out delicious, but it can’t be compared with hazelnuts.

The nuts just need to be lightly toasted so that they crunch a little. If you overcook or burn the nuts, this will all affect the overall taste of the ice cream. Only slightly burnt nuts will impart bitterness to the entire ice cream.

Cook the nuts in the frying pan until crunchy and remove from the heat.

Now you need to prepare the caramel for the nuts. To do this, pour 150 grams of sugar into a frying pan, add 3 tablespoons of water and place on medium heat. The sugar needs to dissolve.

It usually takes 10-15 minutes to prepare caramel.

My sugar is already starting to gurgle slightly.

Gradually the whole frying pan will begin to gurgle, and the sugar will slowly dissolve.

You will need to add nuts to the frying pan only when the caramel acquires its classic caramel shade and aroma.

The caramel has already started to turn slightly brown.

It is necessary that all the caramel in the pan becomes this brownish color. You can sometimes stir the caramel with a spoon.

Now you can add nuts to the caramel.

You need to quickly roll all the nuts in caramel.

I stir and remove the caramelized nuts from the pan.

The ice cream filling is ready. Now you can start making ice cream.

First of all, I separate the whites from the yolks. I put the whites in the refrigerator. The yolks need to be beaten with the remaining sugar.

Beat until the sugar is completely dissolved and the yolk-sugar mixture becomes lighter in color.

Now you need to pour chilled cream into the yolks in a thin stream. It is advisable not to stop whisking.

Beat the yolk-cream mixture until a fluffy foam forms.

This mass should thicken slightly and you get this creamy foam.

Let's move on to the proteins. The whites need to be beaten with a small pinch of salt.

It is not enough to simply whip the whites into a fluffy foam. They must be beaten until stable peaks form. The future fluffiness and airiness of the ice cream will depend on the quality of the whipped whites.

The whites have already increased considerably in volume, but they still need to continue beating.

And here is the peak of whipping the whites. Beauty:)


Let's move on to the most important stage of preparing Semifreddo.

My nuts have already cooled down and need to be ground. If you want the nuts to be ground very finely, then use a blender. I want the ice cream to have chunks of nuts, so I put the nuts in a food processor and grind them up.


It turns out like this nut crumb. The aroma is mind-blowing. While I was preparing the ice cream, my daughter had already eaten a third of the nuts :)


I add nuts to the creamy mixture.

Mix well with a spoon.

And now the most important thing is that you need to carefully fold the whipped whites into the cream with nuts. It is better to do this in parts and very carefully.

Carefully and quietly fold the whites into the cream and stir until smooth.

It's ready! I place the ice cream in a container with a lid and put it in the freezer.

After about an hour and a half, you need to take out the container and mix the ice cream. You can simply mix with a spoon, but I did it with a mixer. This is done so that the ice cream does not turn into a piece of ice, and when frozen, retains its airiness. In addition, the nuts have settled to the bottom and when stirred, they will be distributed throughout the ice cream and will not settle anymore.

I leave the ice cream in the freezer overnight and in the morning I will have such aromatic deliciousness ready.

Natural, aromatic with a huge amount of nuts. What could be better? Not a single store-bought ice cream was nearby))

You can imagine the smell of roasted hazelnuts in caramel and all this in ice cream. The taste of the ice cream is moderately sweet and soft. Personally, for me it never froze to such a solid state as store-bought ice cream. Probably due to the large number of nuts in it. Ice cream melts quickly, so don’t waste time, enjoy the deliciousness.

Cooking time: PT01H00M 1 h.

Probably everyone has wanted to make ice cream at home or tried it at least once (remember, especially in childhood?). True, for some reason it never turned out from frozen milk with sugar :))

Semifreddo (literal translation from Italian - semi-cold) is a traditional Italian dessert, which necessarily contains heavy whipped cream, as well as berries, fruits, candied fruits, nuts, meringues or chocolate.

In fact, semifreddo is no different from regular ice cream... although no, in my opinion, it tastes better :), and making this ice cream at home is very simple!

Semifreddo is often prepared in large forms and served like a cake, cut into pieces. Sometimes, by the way, they top it with various sauces: berry, caramel, chocolate.

Yes, below I will offer you a classic semifreddo recipe. Using it, you can prepare Italian ice cream at home without deviating from the given list of ingredients, or you can easily replace the berries with any fruit, add pieces of chocolate, meringue and anything else your heart desires.

I note that in this recipe I did not use sugar (it can easily be replaced with honey/syrup) - due to its absence, homemade ice cream turned out to be quite low-calorie (although you shouldn’t forget about heavy cream :).

If you are on a diet and such a fatty delicacy does not fit into the daily norm of KBZHU (calories/proteins/fats/carbohydrates), then you will certainly like it. It can also be prepared “like” semifreddo: mixed with berries and nuts in a large form, like a cake.

Semifreddo, or Italian ice cream at home: recipe

Ingredients (for the form, as in the photo):

  • cream (from 30%) – 350 ml;
  • eggs – 3 pcs;
  • any nuts - a large handful;
  • any berries – ½-1 cup;
  • sugar - to taste;
  • vanilla - to taste.

Preparation:

Whip cold cream for 1-2 minutes until fluffy and stiff peaks form. Place in the refrigerator – you won’t need them while you work with the other ingredients.

Divide the eggs into whites and yolks. If you use sugar, add it to the yolks and beat with a mixer. The mass should become fluffy, increase in volume and turn white. If you don't use sugar, DO NOT add anything to the yolks (just beat with a mixer for 1-2 minutes until the mixture turns white - it won't be very fluffy!).

Beat the egg whites (the mixer needles must be perfectly clean and dry!) ​​with a pinch of salt until stiff peaks form.

Using a spatula, carefully fold the yolk mixture into the whipped cream and then the white mixture. At this stage you can add syrups/ (if you are using them instead of sugar).

Add berries (or pieces of fruit), nuts (chopped or whole), and vanilla to the resulting mixture. Let me draw your attention: the berries should be free of excess moisture, so if you have just washed them, dry them on a towel to avoid ice crystals.

Prepare a mold (a brick mold like the one used for baking muffins or a plastic container is ideal), and be sure to line it with cling film.

Fill the mold with the resulting mixture and place in the freezer for at least 2-3 hours.

Semifreddo, or Italian ice cream at home:

Ideally, stir the semifreddo 20-30 minutes after you let it set. This way the ice cream will “set” evenly.

To get the resulting dessert out of the mold, just pull the ends of the film and turn the ice cream over onto a plate. After this you can easily remove the film.

It is best to serve semifreddo after letting it melt a little (5-10 minutes). As I already wrote, you can top the dessert with caramel or chocolate, decorate with jam or fruit.

Now you know how to make ice cream at home. I hope you will appreciate this simple ice cream recipe and the Italian traditional dessert will become one of your favorites!

You will find more Italian recipes.

Semifreddo is a traditional Italian delicacy that has long sunk into the souls of our sweet lovers. If your kids love ice cream, then the semifreddo recipe in this situation is what you need. After all, preparing it is quite simple, and most importantly, the products required for this dessert can always be bought at any store. In our article we will talk about how to prepare this wonderful delicacy.

Classic semifreddo recipe

This wonderful dessert is suitable for both ordinary family gatherings and all kinds of children's parties. So, to prepare semifreddo, we will need the following ingredients:

  • Heavy cream - half a liter.
  • Powdered sugar (you can use regular sugar) - 150 g.
  • Fresh large eggs - 5 pcs.
  • Dark chocolate - 70 g.
  • Salt - a pinch.
  • Berries - for sprinkling.

Step-by-step preparation of dessert

In order to get it you need to tinker a little with the eggs. They must be exceptionally fresh. No more than 10 days should pass from the moment they are born. Only in this case will semifreddo be as similar as possible to real Italian ice cream. So, first you should put them in the refrigerator for a while so that they cool down properly. We need this action so that they beat better.

When the whites have cooled, add a pinch of salt to them. We begin to beat with a mixer until we get a stable white mass.

We will do the same with the yolks, only we will add the required amount of sugar to them. After this, it’s time for the cream. We beat them too. Further actions require maximum accuracy. All whipped ingredients should be mixed together so that they do not lose their thickness. At the same time, slowly add the chocolate, previously grated on a fine grater.

Place the resulting mass in molds and place them in the freezer for 2 hours. After the specified time has passed, we take out the dessert and decorate it with berries. That's it, semifreddo ice cream is ready. Enjoy your meal!

Banana semifreddo

This dessert has an incredibly delicate taste and simply amazing aroma. Having tried this delicacy at least once, no one will be able to forget this amazing taste. So, to prepare semifreddo, we will need the following products:

  • Heavy cream - 300 ml.
  • Powdered sugar - 120 g.
  • Juice squeezed from one lemon.
  • Egg yolks - 6 pcs.
  • Ripe bananas - 3 pcs.
  • Red wine - 80 ml.

Step-by-step preparation of semifreddo

Semifreddo dessert is quite easy to prepare. First, take a fireproof bowl. Separate the whites from the yolks. Let's put the latter into a bowl. Add red wine and powdered sugar there.

Place a pan of water on the stove and boil it. Place our bowl of yolks on top. The fire should not be reduced. Beat the yolks with sugar and wine for 5-8 minutes until a thick foam forms. When this happens, remove the bowl from the pan and leave it until the mixture in it cools.

While this is happening, you can start preparing other foods. Whip the cream, peel the bananas and cut into rings. We place our fruits in a blender bowl, add the pre-squeezed juice of one lemon to them and grind them to a pulp. Add the banana mixture to the cooled yolk mixture. Mix everything carefully.

Transfer the resulting mass into ice cream containers and leave in the refrigerator for 8 hours. If possible, ice cream should be stirred. When our delicious dessert reaches the desired consistency, you can decorate it with grated chocolate or berries. Enjoy the wonderful taste!

Dessert from Hector

This semifreddo recipe is from the famous Canadian chef Hector Jimenez. The dishes of this creator of kitchen masterpieces always amazed with their taste. Next we will describe how semifreddo from Hector Jimenez is prepared. For this we need the following products:

  • Sugar - 1.5 cups.
  • Heavy cream - half a glass.
  • Whole milk - half a glass.
  • Coffee - 100 g.
  • Large fresh eggs - 4 pcs.
  • Savoyardi cookies (any other can be used) - 300 g.
  • Vanilla - 15 g.
  • Gelatin - 12 g.
  • Dark chocolate - half a bar.
  • Honey - ¼ cup.
  • Berries - for sprinkling.

Step-by-step preparation

First we need to brew some strong coffee. If you don’t have custard on hand, you can use regular instant one. To do this, pour boiling water over the specified amount of coffee and stir. In a separate container, mix sugar (1 glass), a quarter glass of water and 50 ml of strong coffee. Cook over low heat until the sugar is completely dissolved. After this, pour the remaining coffee into the saucepan and cook it until a quarter of a glass remains.

Soak gelatin in water. Using a microwave oven, heat the milk mixed with vanilla. When it warms up well, add gelatin to it and mix well. Place in the microwave again for a few seconds. Pour the resulting mixture into a saucepan, add chocolate and coffee to it. Stir and place on the stove until the chocolate is completely dissolved.

In a separate bowl, mix 2 tbsp. l. water, remaining sugar and honey. Place on the stove and heat until a homogeneous mixture is obtained. After this, boil for another 2-3 minutes.

Take a mixer and beat the eggs at maximum speed. After this, reduce the speed of the device and gradually introduce the honey mixture. Beat well. We do the same with cream. Add them to the egg-honey mixture. Then carefully add the milk-coffee mixture and mix.

Soak the cookies in and place them in an ice cream mold. Pour cream on top. Cookies again, then cream. And so on in several layers. Place in the refrigerator for several hours and sprinkle with berries just before serving. That's it, our dish is ready! The recipe for semifreddo is, as you can see, quite simple. Bon appetit!

Semifreddo of berries and chocolate sauce

This amazing delicacy will give you a wonderful mood and allow you to feel the real taste of childhood. The semifreddo recipe in this case is very simple.

For it we will need the following ingredients:

  • Heavy cream - 600 ml.
  • Various berries (can be frozen) - 500 g.
  • Sugar - 3/4 cup.
  • Roasted hazelnuts - 50-60 g.
  • Powdered sugar - ¼ cup.
  • Egg whites - 7 pcs.
  • Instant coffee - 1 tsp.

To prepare chocolate sauce you need:

  • Heavy cream - ¾ cup.
  • Dark chocolate - bar.
  • Water - 60 ml.
  • Honey - 1 tbsp. l.
  • Butter - 30 g (1.5 tbsp.).

Step-by-step preparation

First you need to prepare the meringue. To do this, beat three egg whites together with coffee. While beating, gradually add sugar. When the mixture reaches a thick consistency, add hazelnuts. Beat until fluffy foam forms.

Take out the baking sheet and turn on the oven at 150 degrees. We cover the baking sheet and spread out our mixture using a spoon. Each product must be at least 2 cm thick. Bake for exactly 1 hour. Remove and set aside to cool completely.

Beat the cream with a mixer until it becomes stiff. Break half of the meringue and mix with cream.

Chop the berries. Separately, beat the remaining whites into a stable foam and carefully mix them with the berries.

Take a mold with high sides and cover it in two layers. Place it in the freezer for a few minutes. Listen and distribute 1/3 of the cream and meringue mixture into the mold. Pour half of the berry mass on top. Repeat the layers again. Sprinkle the remaining meringue on top. Cover with cling film, foil on top and place in the freezer for 3-3.5 hours.

For the chocolate sauce, combine honey, water, cream in a saucepan and place them on a hot stove until the mixture boils. Reduce heat, add butter and chocolate. Keep on the stove until the ingredients have melted.

Serve chocolate semifreddo with berries, pouring warm sauce over it. Enjoy this delicious dessert!

Have fun making semifreddo!

Semifreddo is an amazing Italian dessert. Its name translates to “half-frozen,” but it is completely frozen. Despite this fact, it is also not ice cream. Semifredo stands apart in the vast family (gelato). These two delicacies have a lot in common, but they also have significant differences. Our article will help you understand the tricky family connections.

Semifreddo is an old cousin of gelato. Therefore, their stories are closely related. You can read about the life of the republic’s frozen treats at. Although semifreddo has a long tradition, its name does not often appear in historical cookbooks.

Being two similar products, semifreddo and gelato have significant differences. They are similar in that both can be considered products prepared in 3 stages:

  1. Liquid phase: cream, water and sugar mixed in a solution.
  2. Solid phase: the liquid crystallizes under the influence of low temperatures.
  3. Gas phase: The smallest air bubbles are evenly distributed throughout the mass.

The quantitative relationships between these stages are different for semifreddo and gelato. This is where the difference in texture comes from. The first delicacy is more airy and light.

In ice cream, the liquid phase predominates (28.5% water, 28.5% solids, 43% air), which after cooling provides a good creamy texture. Semifreddo is dominated by the gas phase (50% air, 25% water, 25% dry matter). The air does not freeze, so dessert loses volume faster when warm.

And, of course, there are differences in the production of these delicacies. Gelato is frozen in 2 stages, with a temperature jump of approximately 14 degrees (from -4 to -18). Cooling occurs with stirring.

The temperature difference when freezing semifreddo reaches 30-40 degrees (from room temperature about 20 to -18). Cooling occurs statically without stirring.

Often, the classic Italian semifreddo is served on a layer of sponge cake or in a “skullcap” made from it. But it should not be confused with a dessert like ice cream cake. Thickeners and vegetable fats are usually added to the latter.

One of the distinctive components of semifreddo is beaten eggs. Beat the whites and yolks separately and carefully add them to the mixture. Thus, the semi-frozen treat can be considered a mixture of gelato and meringue.

From the above, we can conclude that by calling semifreddo ice cream or cake, we are making a gastronomic mistake.

Basic recipe

In order to conduct culinary experiments in the field of preparing semifreddo, it is extremely necessary to know the basic ingredients. Based on them, you can add your favorite spices, fruits, nuts and other goodies.

So, the components of semifreddo are:

  • Pasta a bomba;
  • A base containing the first two terms.

The meringue creates a more delicate, velvety texture of the semifreddo and lowers the freezing point. The above recipe can not only be added to a frozen dessert, but also baked at 240 degrees for several minutes or decorated with a cake. To prepare it you will need:

  • 3 egg whites;
  • 200 g sugar;
  • 80 ml water.

Mix sugar and water in a saucepan and heat to 120 degrees until completely dissolved and a syrupy consistency is obtained. When the sugar mixture has cooled to 110 degrees, pour it into the prepared egg whites, while beating with a mixer at high speed. After obtaining a fluffy, white “foam” with stable peaks, turn off the mixer and proceed to prepare the next component.

Pasta bomb is an important component of the semifreddo base. Its name comes from France from “Pate à Bombe” - the base for the French parfait.

Required ingredients:

  • 130 g sugar;
  • 100 ml water;
  • 6 egg yolks.

In a saucepan, bring water and sugar to a boil, then let them cool. Pour the syrup and yolks into a bowl and heat in a water bath until the mixture thickens a little. Then transfer the mixture to a suitable container and beat with a mixer at maximum speed until it cools completely.

The basis

You can change the base for semifreddo to your taste by adding grated cocoa, your favorite liqueur or a spoonful of instant coffee. The basic ingredients of the base are:

  • 350 g bomb pasta (one preparation);
  • 500 ml heavy (20-30%) cream;
  • 100 g meringue.

Whip the cream to stiff peaks. If necessary, add your favorite filling when whipping. Mix cream with pasta bomb. Then add the meringue and mix as gently as possible so as not to lose volume. Transfer the semifreddo to a suitable pan and place in the freezer for at least 4 hours. To remove the dessert, soak the pan in hot water for about 30 seconds and invert it onto a plate. The basic version of semifreddo is at your service.

Famous recipes

Today there are thousands of semifreddo recipes with many different fillings. Personalized versions of the semi-frozen dessert are especially popular among domestic housewives. We will tell you how to supplement the basic version to get one or another taste of semifreddo. In order not to repeat ourselves, we note that the basic components are taken in the quantities given above.

Italian (Semifreddo all’italiana)

One of the classic versions of semifreddo is Semifreddo all’italiana. This version does not have the pasta-boimba component, but it is supplemented with the following components:

  • 50 g powdered sugar;
  • 80 g peeled hazelnuts;
  • 50 g pistachios without peel;
  • 70 g candied fruits;
  • 40 g raisins.

In this case, the cream for the base is whipped with powdered sugar, mixed with nuts, raisins and candied fruits, meringue is added and sent to the freezer.

From Yulia Vysotskaya

The famous actress and part-time television cook Yulia Vysotskaya also did not ignore the Italian delicacy. In her vision, the dessert is complemented with chopped caramelized hazelnuts. Nuts (1 cup) are fried in a frying pan with 150 g of sugar and 3 tbsp. spoons of water until a caramel coating forms on them. Once cooled, they are ground into a powder and added to the base before stirring in the meringue. In this simple way you get semifreddo from Vysotskaya.

From Jamie Oliver

Anguillian chef Jamie Oliver also has his own recipe for semifreddo. It includes, in addition to the main components, lemon zest, Amaretto liqueur and cookies of the same name. Approximately 90 g of crushed cookies are soaked in 10 tbsp. spoons of alcohol. Bomba pasta is prepared with the zest of 2 lemons. Finally, all components of the base are carefully mixed and transferred into portioned glasses, which are placed in the freezer for 1 hour.

Serve Jamie Oliver's semifreddo, garnished with berries.

From Gordon Ramsay

Another famous British chef, Gordon Ramsay, has developed his own version of a semi-frozen treat. His recipe is more original than that of previous authors. Here the whites and yolks of 4 eggs are not beaten separately, but together with the addition of 90 g of powdered sugar.

Then add 250 g of dark chocolate melted in a water bath, 50 g of peeled whole pistachios to the resulting mass and mix thoroughly. Whip the cream with a few drops of vanilla extract and carefully combine with the chocolate-egg mixture. After resting in the freezer, Ramsay's semifreddo is served garnished with grated chocolate and chopped pistachios.

Calorie content and benefits

In terms of calorie content, classic semifreddo occupies an intermediate position between cake and ice cream. Its nutritional value per 100 g is approximately 325 kcal, which consist of:

  • Protein 6.56 g;
  • Fat 21.64 g;
  • Carbohydrates 28 g.

As a product consisting of cream and milk, semifreddo is a good source of protein, calcium and vitamin A. Proteins are an essential building block for the body throughout our lives. Calcium is responsible for the health of bones, teeth, muscles and excellent conduction of nerve impulses. Vitamin A maintains visual acuity and youthful skin.

Remember that each added component increases the calorie content of the dessert. In this case, the beneficial properties of the product may change slightly.
It is worth noting that semifreddo is a fairly fatty delicacy. The cholesterol content in a 100 g serving covers 107% of the daily requirement for this substance. Therefore, people with diabetes, obesity and heart problems should avoid consuming it.

A healthy, active person can enjoy dessert as a snack. The serving should not exceed 50 g.

If you still can’t resist semifreddo, then don’t forget about evening exercises so as not to damage your figure and health.

This is how we smoothly come to the end of our review. There is nothing better than enjoying an Italian semifreddo in an Italian cafe surrounded by friendly Italians. Live lovingly, love traveling, and travel wisely and remember: “If you don’t want kulesh, you’ll eat semifreddo.” Tasty and nutritious!”

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