Rose Harissa Rhubarb and Raspberry Semifreddo

Jim, like most every guy on the planet loves ice cream.  And I love making ice cream.

But in my quest to satisfy his ice cream tooth, with minimal effort,  I have decided to share this recipe for ice cream’s crazy, fun loving, younger brother: Semifreddo. Freddo, Fred, get it…oh I’ll move on!

(This post contains Affiliate links)

Semifreddo is an Italian frozen dairy dessert.  You will still use eggs, but you won’t have to cook up a custard of some sort.  There is no chilling of the mixture before putting it into the machine for churning. In fact it doesn’t require the machine or churning by hand that traditional recipes call for at all.   In this case, you will be whipping the eggs with sugar on high speed till they have nearly tripled in volume.  Afterwards you will whip up cream till it has a wonderful peaks.  These get folded together and then placed into a prepared loaf pan.  And popped into the freezer.  So if you’ve always wanted to make an ice cream, but don’t have a machine of any kind, this recipe is for you!

The resulting frozen concoction is like eating a whipped frozen mousse.  With minimal work.  These are the basics of the dessert.  How it is flavoured is the fun part.

For today’s Semifreddo recipe, I tapped into Yossy Arefi’s Rhubarb Semifreddo recipe, from Sweeter Off The Vine.  If you haven’t checked out her book yet, what are you waiting for?  It’s such an amazing book dedicated to fruit desserts that we can make all through the year. We are entering prime rhubarb season, so it just seemed natural to look to her recipe for inspiration.  She uses a rhubarb purée to flavour the egg and dairy base.  Whipping up a rhubarb purée is as easy as pie (of which I have made many rhubarb ones!)  But this was just the start.  I didn’t want the flavour to be flat, or  one-noted.  So I decided to add some spice.  So many herbs and spices work beautifully with rhubarb: urfa pepper, cinnamon, cloves, mint, thyme. 

But for today’s recipe, I set my sights on Rose Harissa.  Harissa is a blend of chilli peppers and dozens of other herbs and spices, hailing from North Africa.  The addition of dried rose petals softens and adds a light sweetness to the warmth and heat of the spice blend.  This would be perfect in my Semifreddo.  The heat would contrast nicely with the creamy coolness of the frozen custard.  The slight sweet warmth would contrast perfectly against the tart rhubarb purée.

The purée is made by simply roasting off some rhubarb with sugar, salt and the harissa powder.  Into the oven till softened and juicy, about 15 minutes. Once you let it cool slightly, it will get blended up in a blender till smooth.  You can even make this the day before you want to make the rest of the dessert. Chill in a sealed container.

When ready, whip up the eggs and sugar.  For this a stand mixer is best.  Because it will take a little while.  But when you return after about 7-8 minutes, they have turned into the most amazing pale yellow mass that has grown in volume.  

In another bowl with a hand held mixer, whip up the whipping cream to lovely but not stiff peaks.  

Then it’s time to gently fold everything together.  First fold in the rhubarb purée into the eggs.  Then, in stages, fold the whipped cream into the eggs and rhubarb.  Once gently blended you will add something fun:

My second addition would be a berry of some sort.  Sure, strawberries would be an obvious choice.  But I decided to use raspberries. They have a softer sweetness, and their texture and architectural presence when sliced into would give visual interest to the Semifreddo when it is cut into.   Once the berries are folded into the custard, it all gets poured into a plastic wrap lined loaf pan.  Take the overhanging edges and fold over the smoothed top.  Pop it into the freezer for at least 6 hours or even overnight.  When ready to serve, set it out for a few minutes to soften slightly.

The finished ‘loaf’ of frozen custard is served sliced and can be topped off with whipped cream, some spicy rhubarb compote, chopped nuts, or even a cool chocolate drizzle. Or if you feel so inclined, all of the above!! 

A spicy Rhubarb Compote is created easily on the stove top.  Chopped rhubarb, spices like ginger, vanilla bean, sugar, star anise and cloves are all added to a pot, and marinade together with some lemon.  Then after the sugar has pulled out some of the rhubarb juices, you’ll boil it till it thickens, stirring it occasionally. Remove the star anise and vanilla pod and store the cooled compote in sealed jars.  You can even treat this like jam for toast or to use in smoothies.  Make up a good batch, freeze it and you’ll be tasting springtime in the middle of December!

This is a wonderful, fresh summery dessert that comes together easily.  Can’t you imagine replacing the roasted rhubarb with peaches or plums or apricots?!  I think I will try that apricot one next!  

In my quest for simple and easy, I think that this one fits the bill.  Simple in that you won’t need a machine of some sort.  But the visual impact and ease-for-entertaining factor have not been lost.  So you can impress your guests, without telling them how easy it was! Go ahead and get to know Semifreddo, if you haven’t met him already! He’s the life of the party, a real hoot!

Love Jen.

Print

Rose Harissa Rhubarb and Raspberry Semifreddo

This easy breezy Italian dairy dessert with a frozen mousse-like texture comes together with less effort than ice cream, but will totally satisfy all your creamy cravings!  Sliced instead of scooped, it makes for a wonderful dessert for company.  Top it in a myriad of ways, including a spicy rhubarb compote

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 50 minutes

Chilling 6 hours

Servings 10 slices

Ingredients

Rhubarb Purée

• 12 oz (340 grams) rhubarb stalks, leaves removed
• 1 cup (200 grams) granulated sugar, divided
• 1 tsp rose harissa
• 1/2 tsp salt

Semifreddo

• 4 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups (355ml)heavy cream (whipping cream)
• 1 cup raspberries rinsed and patted dry
• 1/2 cup (60 grams) chopped or slivered pistachios
• Lightly sweetened whipped cream for serving if desired

Spicy Rhubarb Compote

• 1 pound (450 grams) rhubarb stalks, leaves removed
• 2 inch (5cm) piece of fresh ginger, peeled and grated finely
• 1/2 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/4 cup (250 grams) granulated sugar
• 1 whole star anise
• 1/2 tsp ground cloves
• 1 lemon juiced (about 3 tbsp)

Instructions

Rhubarb Purée

1. Position a rack in the centre of the oven and preheat to 375F (190C)
2. Line a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan with plastic wrap, making sure there is at least 3 inches of overhang on each side.
3. Slice the rhubarb stalks into 2 inch pieces and put them into a baking dish large enough to hold them all in one layer.
4. Sprinkle them with 3/4 cup of sugar, the harissa powder and the salt. Toss gently to combine. Bake until the rhubarb is soft and juicy, about 15 minutes.
5. Remove and let cool slightly.
6. Place everything into a blender or food processor and blend till smooth. You should have about 2 cups worth of purée. Refrigerate till needed.

Semifreddo

1. Whip (use your whip attachment) the eggs in an stand mixer with the remaining 1/4 of sugar on high speed. Whip until the eggs are light in colour, and almost tripled in volume, this should take about 7-8 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, whip the cream with clean beaters. Start of slow but gradually increase speed till it is on high. Whip until the cream has achieved peaks, just not stiff ones.
3. Take the chilled rhubarb purée and a hand whisk to blend them gently into the eggs. They should be well combined- this will take a few minutes, keep at it. Don't be worried if some of the egg volume drops.
4. Take some of the whipped cream and fold it gently into the egg and rhubarb mixture. Once that is folded in, add more, until everything is combined.
5. Gently fold in the raspberries.
6. Now pour the entire mixture into the prepared loaf pan. Smooth the top. Fold the plastic wrap over the top. Freeze until completely firm, at least 6 hours to overnight.
7. When ready to serve, remove the loaf pan from the freezer, and let it warm up slightly, about 2 minutes or so.
8. Uncover the surface of the semifreddo. Turn the loaf pan over onto a cutting board or platter. Gently pull the plastic away from the frozen mass.
9. Slice into thick slices (you should be able to get 8-10 slices easy from the loaf) and serve on a plate with your preferred toppings.
10. Some sweetened whipped cream, chopped pistachios, fresh berries or the rhubarb compote below all work great.
11. Store any unused semifreddo in the freezer for up to 2 weeks.

Spicy Rhubarb Compote

1. Chop the rhubarb into 1/2 pieces and place them in a non-reactive pot (stainless steel)

2. Use the tip of a knife to spit open the vanilla bean, and the back of the knife to scrape out the seeds.

3. Add the the ginger, vanilla seeds and the seed pod, the sugar, star anise and cloves into the pot as well.
4. Finally add the lemon juice and stir to combine. Cover with a clean kitchen towel or plastic wrap and let it sit for about 2 hours at room temperature. After this rest, the rhubarb should be quite juicy.
5. Place the pot on the stove and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
6. Stir occasionally to make sure nothing is sticking and scorching on the bottom. Use a rubber spatula.
7. Keep cooking till thickened and jammy (or thickened to the consistency you would like), 10-15 minutes.
8. Remove the star anise and the vanilla pod (if you didn't use extract)
9. Let the rhubarb cool before storing in containers.
10. This recipe makes about 3 cups, depending on how much you cook it down. It can be stored in the fridge for up to 1 month, or if placed into correct containers, frozen for a few months. You can use this on ice cream, yogurt, in smoothies, on toast etc.

Recipe Notes

A total riff on Yossy Arefi's Rhubarb Semifreddo recipe from 'Sweeter Off The Vine'.