Caramelized peach semifreddo

Hello from autumnal west Michigan! It feels so good to be away from the seemingly weeks and weeks of heat and humidity. My baking juices have been flowing - yippie!

Peaches have been around for a few weeks now and are ever so delicious. In addition to the mixed fruit galette I shared with you recently, I’ve made a peach cake for a cousin’s gathering a couple of weeks ago, I have peach ice cream in the freezer and just baked a peach/blueberry custard tart to share with neighbors.

My favorite stone fruit vendor

This post has been underway for awhile after my discovery of the book “Dolci!” by Renato Poliafito at our local library. Hence I’ve been off on an Italian tangent with this delicious semifreddo (I’ll have a few other Italian bakes to share with you in the coming weeks.)

As a bit of back story, let’s not forget that my first foray into professional pastry school was at Apicius in Florence, Italy back in early 2006. By the way, at the end of this month it’ll be TWENTY years since I left my medical career - wow!

At Apicius I enjoyed the basic pastry program and had hoped to continue with a second semester, but, alas, the proposed summer session wasn’t going to happen. As Steve and I contemplated our next move, he so wisely said “If you want to learn pastry, why not go to Paris?” And the rest is history as they say.

Like a big sparkler

Let’s get back to the task at hand. I recently taught a French macaron class to a couple of teenagers (good fun!) which meant I had to have egg whites on hand a few days ahead so they could age in the fridge. When I need egg whites, I look for something tasty to make using the yolks. Semifreddo (Italian word meaning half-cold) is just one of those. Basically a still-frozen (not churned) egg/sugar or Swiss meringue base to which whipped cream is added, it can take on many flavor profiles.

For the base mixture: option one is a sabayon/zabaglione made with eggs + yolks (or all yolks) + sugar + a flavoring liquid such as a nut liqueur/fruit juice/Marsala/Champagne or a fruity white wine; option two is a Swiss meringue base to which one can add fruit purees, melted chocolate and/or ground nuts to name just a few.

Both options end with folding in whipped cream and the whole shebang is frozen in a plastic-wrap-lined loaf pan.

Cover with the plastic and into the freezer

An alternative is to spread the mix into shaped flexi-molds of choice for an interesting single serving approach. The below image gives you the general idea. Top with fresh fruit or coulis plus a crunchy crumble and you’re good to go.

Waiting for garnish

Let’s go over the process. This is a plan ahead-er for sure. Just be organized and you’ll find it’s pretty straight forward. Peaches diced, sautéed and cooled; base mixture whisked/heated over bain marie and fully cooled; cream whipped; then it all gets combined, spread into a pan and into the freezer. Here’s the full recipe PDF.

Lightly oil a 9”x5” loaf pan and line with plastic (the oil keeps the plastic in place) so that it overhangs the edges by 2-3 inches.

For the peaches I peeled/large diced 4 ripe peaches. Sautéed in a bit of sugar, butter and a splash of lemon juice to cook off the liquid, then stir in a couple of drizzles of my homemade caramel at the end makes for a tasty addition to the base.

Bubble . . . bubble

Transfer the peaches to a 1/4 sheet pan in a single layer and let cool fully. If not using soon, cover and refrigerate.

Make the sabayon by whisking 2 large eggs, 3 yolks and 100 g / 1/2 cup granulated sugar in a medium heat proof bowl over a bain marie. Whisk with vigor until the mixture pales, thickens and ribbons off a spatula or bowl scraper, about 5-8 minutes. It should reach 170ºF. Place directly into an ice bath and let cool completely, whisking occasionally.

Whip 360 ml / 1.5 cups heavy cream to medium soft peaks.

Components ready

Blend the whipped cream into the cooled base then fold in the peaches.

Spread evenly into the prepared pan. Fold the plastic wrap over the surface, smooth down to eliminate air bubbles then place into the freezer for at least 4 hours. I made mine a couple of weeks before actually serving and enjoying it. Make ahead - gotta love it!!

When it came time for the first taste, I opted for an ice cream scoop approach. I admit I might have been in a teensy bit of a hurry and this is an easy way to enjoy - a scoop into a bowl, topped with toasted sliced almonds and/or oat crumble, a few blueberries and a drizzle of caramel - YES!

The remainder went back into the freezer until I got my wits about me.

The next time I was feeling a bit more relaxed so took time to lift the semifreddo out of the pan, slice it and top with the same garnish of crumble, blueberries and caramel - never gets old.

I was left with enough to empty the loaf pan and press the remaining mixture into one of my decorative silicone molds (photo earlier above). Covered with plastic wrap and back into the freezer (again!) where it’s at the ready for another round of goodness.

A quick note - I would typically decide ahead of time whether I want to make a full loaf (e.g. sliced and garnished for a dinner party) or opt for the silicone individual portions that can be popped out and served singly or with just a handful of folks. It’s all in the planning.

OK - enough of the semifreddo. Here’s the peach cake I mentioned earlier. The recipe is the same as one I posted back in late August of 2023 as mini cakes - this time I went with a 9” springform.

Hmmmmm . . . . what should go on top??

I topped it with my favorite caramel mascarpone cream plus a drizzle of caramel over all. I don’t have a photo of an individual portion (we were at my cousin’s cottage and it just didn’t happen), but I also made a blueberry sauce to top it. Boy oh boy was it good!

Happy baking and enjoy autumn!

Along my walking route

Semifreddo and a one dish composed dessert

On the prowl once again for a weekend supper dessert idea, I decided to make a semifreddo to pair with something warm and fruity. Cherry berry pistachio crumble with vanilla almond semifreddo it is!

Semifreddo is Italian for "half-cold" and is a molded, creamy dessert that's in the "still frozen" category, meaning it isn't churned like ice creams and sorbets before freezing. There are numerous flavor possibilities with coffee, chocolate, citrus or a fruit purée of one's choosing among the many.

Its base is similar to an Italian zabaglione or French sabayon in which egg yolks, sugar and a liquid like Marsala (the classic in Italy), Champagne, Prosecco, red or white wine, citrus (or other fruit) juice or a liqueur are whisked over a bain marie until lightened, foamy and thickened.

In this case I whisked 80 ml (1/3 cup) vanilla simple syrup (essentially combining my sugar and liquid before hand) with 3 egg yolks until thickened and lighter. Here’s what it looks like at the start -

and it becomes thicker and more pale as you whisk.

A zabaglione or sabayon in its pristine form is often served warm just after preparation, perhaps with fresh fruit, but in this case I cooled it over an ice bath in preparation for the next step.

When you take a zabaglione/sabayon to the next level and fold either whipped cream or a meringue into the chilled base, it becomes a semifreddo (or a French parfait - confused yet?).

Here I’ve whipped cream to soft peaks . . . .

and blended it into the yolk/sugar syrup base. I also added some toasted sliced almonds for crunch.

The mixture can be placed in one large plastic-wrap-lined mold such as a simple loaf pan (as I’ve done here) or a fluted bowl, or can be portioned into small silicone molds, available in an appealing assortment of shapes and sizes.

Fold the plastic wrap snugly over the mixture and freeze at least for several hours. But wait! . . . one of the beauties of this is you can have it ready and waiting in your freezer even days or a couple of weeks ahead of serving. Talk about being prepared.

To achieve my fruity, crunchy composed result I made up a big batch of a favorite almond/hazelnut crumble we used to make during my stage at Pascal Pinaud’s pâtisserie in Paris’ 5th arr.

60 g almond flour, 180 g hazelnut flour, 240 g sugar, 240 g all purpose flour, 6 g salt all mixed up in a bowl. Add 240 g cool, diced butter and sand it into the dry ingredients to achieve coarse crumbs.

Now you have a choice. Your crumble can be baked ahead to use as a crisp, buttery topping for whatever - a tart, a custard, some ice cream or fruit, or even your morning oatmeal or yogurt. Keeping the crumble separate and adding it as a topping just before serving keeps it from getting soggy. You can freeze it already baked and have it ready for upcoming projects.

Or you can bag up the unbaked raw mixture, freeze it and, when ready, throw some on top of yet-to-bake fruit crisp, cake batter, a rustic galette or anything else you can think of to yield a crispy baked topping for your dessert.

When I bake my crumble ahead, I bake at 350º for about 20 minutes, stirring it up every 5 minutes or so with a bench scraper until lightly browned and set.

Below is a nicely baked tray of delicious crumble.

Now onto the fruit part.  So it's still winter, after all, but I was going for cherries and berries for this dessert. That's the beauty of IQF (individually quick frozen) fruit that's available in the grocery stores all year round.

I have these great little square ramekins that I bought at Crate and Barrel some years back.  They hold just the right amount for a not too generous dessert portion. To fill six of them I used 340 gm (12 oz) frozen pitted sweet cherries and about a cup and a half of mixed blueberries and raspberries. I tossed them in a mixture of 85 gm (generous 1/3 cup) sugar, 10 gm (~ 1TBSP) cornstarch, the zest of half a lemon, a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon coriander. Topped with some unbaked pistachio crumble that I had in my freezer (told you I was on a nut kick), they're ready for the oven.

Bake at 325º for about 40-45 minutes until the crumble is lightly browned and the fruit is bubbly.

When it came time for dessert, I scooped some semifreddo onto the still warm fruit, sprinkled some baked hazelnut-almond crumble on top and drizzled a bit of caramel over it all.

Delicious!

So use your imagination and create your own composed dessert. Having the contrast in textures (creamy, fruity, crunchy) and temperatures (warm and cool) is oh so wonderful. And remember -  it doesn't have to be fussy, difficult or fancy - just tasty!