When I was in culinary school, we learned all kinds of high-brow techniques — quenelles, mille feulle, pate briseé up the wazoo — not all of them practical for everyday cooking. But there’s one dessert I actually make over and over again at home, and that’s semifreddo.
The classic Italian dessert has become my secret to making ice cream at home without an ice cream machine. Semifreddo literally translates to “half cold” or “half frozen” and lands somewhere between a mousse and frozen custard, and totally satisfies any and all ice cream cravings.
I’ve never understood why semifreddo hasn’t gotten the attention in American kitchens that I feel it deserves. It’s easy to make ahead and a total crowd pleaser at the end of a meal. I’m praying that its days of hiding in the shadows of gelato are OVER.
The version I learned included whipping egg yolks and granulated sugar over a double boiler until it got thick and fluffy, then folding in whipped cream and freezing. But there’s an even simpler way to make the custardy base for this dessert, with a few key substitutions.
In Tasty’s orange semifreddo, you start by whisking together egg yolks, powdered sugar, mascarpone, cream, sugar, orange liqueur, and vanilla until smooth.
By replacing granulated sugar with powdered sugar and subbing some of the whipping cream for mascarpone, we have a no-cook custard base that’s ready to go in the freezer.
Both substitutions improve the stability and texture of the custard in a similar way to cooking the yolks, but with a lot less effort and precision.
My culinary spidey senses are saying to whip the egg yolks and confectioners until they’ve reached the ribbon stage* before adding the rest of the ingredients. Our recipe skips that step and has a 97% approval rating, so… spidey senses aren’t always right, I guess.
You can also whip the cream and mascarpone to soft peaks before folding them into the egg yolk base for an extra light semifreddo. Just be mindful of overwhipping!
Then, pour the custard into your desired mold (in our case, hollowed orange halves) and set it in the freezer for at least an hour.
The time it takes to freeze will depend on the size of your semifreddo mold. You can use any mold really (a cake tin, bowl, teacup, be creative!). Just make sure you line it with plastic wrap before adding the custard if you want to pop it out after freezing. You can serve them as individual little desserts, or as a sharable (and cutable!) “cake.”
We went FULL citrus with these little orange semifreddos, even serving them in an orange peel, but you can substitute the orange zest and liqueur for your favorite extracts, liqueurs, jams, candies, nuts, and fruits. This dessert is a classic example of how a few pastry skills, some eggs, and a few other things give you A TON of creative freedom.
And I’m sure you’re wondering: How does semifreddo stay mousse-like in the freezer, instead of becoming frozen solid? Sugar! It’s not just for taste; sugar actually lowers the custard’s freezing temperature and interferes with ice crystallization, which makes for a softer frozen dessert.
One other ingredient in our version helps prevent an icy semifreddo: booze! Not all semifreddo recipes include it, but our semifreddo recipe includes liqueur, and its alcohol content lowers the freezing temperature of the dessert, making it softer when frozen.
In addition to these anti-freeze ingredients, it’s a good idea to give your semifreddo some time out of the freezer before serving — I like to move mine to the fridge once dinner is over. Once the dinner plates are cleared and soaking in the sink, your semifreddo will be chilled, but soft and ready to serve.
For a step-by-step recipe for a perfectly seared steak and a video tutorial to get you through the tricky parts, download the free Tasty app, search “semifreddo,” and click on the top recipe. You’ll quickly become the Giada of the friend group.
Want more semifreddo recipes or tips from my culinary school days? Let us know in the comments!