Strawberry Semifreddo

I first came across semifreddo a few years back, while watching one of Jamie Oliver's TV series. I remembered vaguely that he's making a Praline semifreddo and I was intrigued by how it's made as it was really simple and did not require the help of the ice cream machine.

Semifreddo is an Italian word for "half cold", and from wiki, it refers to:

The first semifreddo that I experimented is this strawberry semifreddo. Though Jamie Oliver whips all the egg whites and cream using hand, I choose to employ the help of my mixer to save some strength. 😀

There's basically just a few steps into this recipe. First purée the berries then cook up the syrup. Whip the egg whites and then the cream. Lastly is just the mixing and into the freezer it goes. There is no need for the semifreddo to be taken out from the freezer to be re-beaten, which is what motivates me to make this recipe.

It is a great recipe as it can be prepared well before hand and be used for last minute desserts or for unexpected guests. Commercial fruit-based ice creams often lead to wild guesses as the taste may be because of the flavouring instead of the real fruits themselves. This, is REAL strawberries and REAL taste.

Strawberry Semifreddo

400g-450g strawberries, leaves cut off (there's no need to hull, waste of time~)
1 cup sugar (white sugar)
¼ cup water
pinch of salt
3 large egg whites
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream

I'm sure most of us have eaten ice cream from loaf-pan-like-containers before, get one of those (1 litre will do) and line with 2 sheets of plastic wrap, leaving an overhang on all sides to make unmoulding easy. (For me, I choose to scoop the semifreddo out, so I left out the plastic wrap.)

Process the strawberries in a food processor till well puréed. Pour the berries through a coarse strainer and extract as much liquid as possible.

Bring sugar, water and salt to a boil in a small saucepan over high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved. Boil for 2 minutes and remove from heat. (Just a rough gauge will do, it will be lightly golden in colour.)

Beat egg whites on medium speed till foamy. Increase the speed to medium-high and pour in the hot sugar syrup into the egg whites with the mixer running. Be careful to avoid the beaters or else the syrup will splatter out. Continue beating for 10min till the egg whites are cooled to room temperature.

Beat the cream till stiff peaks form. With a whisk or a rubber spatula, fold berry purée into the egg white mixture, then fold in the whipped cream.

Spoon into ice cream container and spread into the corners with a rubber spatula. Cover with the overhanging plastic wrap or another piece of plastic wrap directly on top of the berry mixture. Freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight.

Turn out the semifreddo onto and serving plate. Let it soften for 10min before cutting into slices and serve with additional berries.

I would suggest keeping the semifreddo in the freezer for just up to 1 week, but then again, I doubt anyone can resist leaving it in the freezer for too long. 😉

Indulge!