My First Time with Berries Ripple Semifreddo
There is always a first time for everything. And this was my first time making ice-cream, semifreddo to be exact. I like ice-cream, don’t you? Especially on a hot, humid day here in Singapore, an ice-cream is so hard to resist!
So what’s a semifreddo? It has a texture icier than ice-cream yet still creamy if you let it melt a little. It’s somewhat between a mousse and an ice-cream. I set my eyes on this recipe when I saw Milk and Cookies execute it from Donna Hay’s magazine. And since I have that issue as well, I thought why not give it a try especially when this recipe doesn’t need an ice-cream maker to do the churning.
My first try was a disaster as I messed up the whipping of the cream. The egg mixture was nicely whipped and left to cool. As I proceed to whip the cream to soft peak, I decided to try hand whisking it quickly. How hard can it be right? That was a mistake. The cream needs to be whisked fast and I couldn’t as my hands got tired after a while. I wonder if it’s the type of cream I bought that caused the problem (I bought Bulla pure cream). I stopped whisking to rest my arms and continued to beat the cream. While resting, the cream hardened and no matter how hard I beat, it began to curdle and stayed hard. Without any extra cream to make a new batch, I felt really disappointed that night as I was looking forward to enjoying the semifreddo on a weekend night the next day. And I ended up sulking in front of the TV the whole night.
I did whipping of egg whites to stiff peak before for my tiramisu using the mixer. That was so much easier. So the following night, I re-did everything from scratch. And this time, I used the mixer instead. Lesson learnt. A different cream was used as well. I got the whipping cream instead which I thought might be easier to whip.
The original recipe asked for only raspberry, but I added some blueberries in and reduced to 2/3 the portion. Instead of letting the berries puree sank to the bottom, I made some swirls to make it looked more beautiful. I used the normal vanilla essence as I didn’t purchase any vanilla pods. I think you can make do with vanilla extract too. Everything went well the second time. Happy.
After leaving the semifreddo to set in the freezer overnight, I eagerly went to taste it the next morning. It was a bit hard to scoop partly because of the frozen berries puree. But once it starts to soften, it melts very fast. I like how the slightly sweet cream was paired with the tangy berries. Every mouthful was a delight, of course, eating my first home-made ice-cream.
My Canon G3 was giving me some problems some time back, so I was ‘forced’ to use B’s DSLR. See the semifreddo melting in the bowl? I still haven’t figured out how to use the DSLR properly. As I fumbled through the settings, the semifreddo couldn’t stand the heat and started to melt! It’s really frustrating as I was so used to the G3. With a flip screen, it was even easier for me to compose the shots comfortably. To take photos using the DSLR without a flip screen and with a pair of very unsteady hands, I got so panicky seeing the ice-cream melts. I guess it’s time to start learning again.
Raspberry Ripple Semifreddo
Recipe from Donna Hay magazine, issue 36
3 x 120g punnets raspberries
3 eggs
2 egg yolks, extra
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
1 cup (220g) caster sugar
13/4 cup single or pouring cream
Place the berries in the food processor and process until smooth. Set aside.
Place the eggs, egg yolks, vanilla and sugar in a large heatproof bowl. Place over saucepan of simmering water and whisk the mixture with a hand-held beater for 4 – 5 mins or until thick and pale. Remove the heat and continue whisking until cool. Whisk cream until soft peaks form and gently fold into the egg mixture. Reserve 2 cups of the mixture and pour the remainder into a 12-cup capacity dish (any container will do actually). Fold the reserved mixture through the pureed berries and spoon stripes over the semifreddo. Place in the freezer for 4 – 6 hours or until set. Serves 10.
This will be my first entry to Sugar High Friday! SHF is a monthly event organised by The Domestic Goddess. The theme for this month is berries and is hosted by Food Blogga. Thanks Sihan for enlightening me on this.
I am also submitting this entry to Red & White Foodie Photo Contest, a collaboration of three foodie bloggers Dhi-Fitri-Dwi, in celebration of Indonesia’s Independence day. I am really eager to see what other foodies have come up with.
