Semifreddo is Italian for “half-cold”. Its texture is similar to ice cream, but made without an ice cream machine. This is a salted caramel version, sandwiched between layers of flourless chocolate cake.
I suppose this is essentially an ice cream sandwich, but I wanted to use cake instead of biscuits so it retains a soft texture after frozen. The chocolate cake is adapted from this roulade recipe, and semifreddo inspired by Mat Lindsay’s post on Gourmet Traveller.
This dessert needs to freeze overnight, so plan ahead. I recommend making the caramel sauce first so it has time to cool, followed by the chocolate cake and then the semifreddo. Remember that the sabayon (eggs and sugar cooked over a bain-marie) must be completely cooled before folding in the whipped cream.
This sabayon uses less sugar than most semifreddo recipes, since most of the sweetness comes from the caramel. I usually whisk my sabayon by hand until it turns light and pale yellow, but this time I couldn’t quite get it as airy – possibly because of the lower sugar-to-yolk ratio. To make things easier, I recommend using an electric hand whisk or transferring the mixture to a standmixer bowl to whisk until it reaches room temperature.
The chocolate cake is baked in a sheet tray and trimmed to fit the tin used for assembling the semifreddo. I use a 30 × 20 cm lamington pan for the cake and a 1.5 L container for assembling the dessert. The container is actually from Kmart, but it is no longer sold (it would be slightly taller than this 1 L one). For easy removal, line the container generously with cling film, leaving some overhang to lift the semifreddo out.
The finished result is quite rich and chocolate forward, with gentle notes of salted caramel at the end. It’s not really my type of dessert, but it’s still delicious. To dress it up, you could sprinkle some chocolate curls on top, make meringue kisses with the left over egg whites or even do a toasted meringue so it becomes a baked alaska.
I hope you enjoy the recipe, and please let me know if you have any questions,. Have a great week!
Chocolate and Salted Caramel Semifreddo
Makes a small rectangular semifreddo, slightly larger than standard loaf pan. Semifreddo recipe adapted from Mat Lindsay.
Ingredients
Chocolate Cake
- 3 large eggs, seperated
- 75g caster sugar, divided
- 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 75g dark chocolate (70% cocoa solids), melted and cooled
- 2 tbsp icing sugar, for dusting
Salted Caramel Semifreddo
- 95g sugar
- 30ml water
- 30g buter
- 300ml cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 egg yolks
Method
Chocolate Cake
- Preheat oven to 160°C. Grease and line a rimmed 30×20 cm baking tray with parchment paper. Set aside.
- In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, add the egg whites and whip until soft peaks form. Gradually add half of the sugar (37g), a tablespoon at a time, and whisk until stiff peaks form. Transfer the egg whites to a seperate bowl, and set aside.
- In the stand mixer bowl, add the egg yolks, remaining 37g of sugar and vanilla extract. Beat on high speed until pale in colour and tripled in volume, about 4-5 minutes.
- Using a spatula, gently fold the melted chocolate into the egg yolks.
- Fold one third of the whipped egg whites into the egg yolk mixture. You can be a bit vigorous at this stage, because you simply want to loosen the mixture. Gently fold in the second third of egg whites, being a bit more careful this time. Finally, gently fold in the remaining third of egg whites until no white streaks remain.
- Spread the cake batter evenly into the prepared baking tray. Bake in the preheated oven for 18-20 minutes, until the cake springs back gently when pressed and pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan.
- Cover the cake with a clean, damp tea towel. Leave to cool for about 15 minutes.
- Dust a sheet of baking paper genorously with icing sugar. Gently flip the cake onto the paper and peel away the lining paper. Set aside until ready to assemble.
Salted Caramel Semifreddo
- Make the caramel sauce: In a small saucepan, stir together 70g of sugar and 30ml of water. Over medium-high heat, bring the mixture to a boil, swirling the pan occasionally. Brush down any sugar crystals on the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush. Cook until a dark-amber caramel begins to form and remove from the heat. Quickly and carefully stir in the butter until melted (the mixture will bubble up). Stir in 100ml of cream, then add the salt and vanilla extract. Whisk until a smooth caramel forms. Transfer to a heat-proof container or glass jar, and refrigerate to cool completely.
- For the semifreddo, whisk together the egg yolks and remaining 25g of sugar in a medium heatproof bowl. Set the bowl over a saucepan filled simmering water. Whisk continously until the sugar has dissovled and mixture has lightenned in colour, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a standmixer bowl and whisk until cooled to room temperature. Gently sitr in the cooled caramel sauce.
- Whip the remaining 200 ml of cream to soft peaks, then gently fold it into the egg-yolk caramel mixture in two batches.
- To assemble, line a container (appoximately 15cm x 7cm x 22cm) with cling film, leaving some overhang to lift the semifreddo out. Trim the chocolate cake into two rectangles, using the base of the container as a guide. Place one layer of cake into the container, then pour over the semifreddo. Finally, place the second layer of cake on top and gently press down. Cover and freeze overnight. Cut into slices using a knife dipped in warm water.