Orange Cherry Pistachio Semifreddo

This summery Semifreddo is an Italian classic: half ice cream, half whipped cream with rum and orange soaked cherries and pistachios. Other than the freezing part, this Semifreddo can be whipped up in less than 45 minutes and is the ideal creamy dessert for summer–NO OVEN INVOLVED! The flavors and textures are out of this world and that creamy half frozen texture is like heavenly clouds dancing with, well, whipped cream.

Ice Cream Anniversary

Semifreddo literally means “half cold” and this Italian dessert was always a word that piqued my interest while absorbing every baking show on television over the last few years. For me, it’s all happening too fast: For our 3rd anniversary, my boyfriend and I bought each other (i.e. each paid half) for an ice cream/sorbet maker, a little red beauty here. We have been dreaming up ice creams from almond and pistachio to Guinness and booze filled wonders, plus fruity sorbets in creative combinations. Turns out, we don’t even need an ice cream maker to make Semifreddo. Even better.

Half Cold

Turns out there isn’t much to the history of Semifreddo–it appeared towards the end of the 19th century as an Italian counterpart to the French parfait. Instead of different layers of fruit and cream, the elements are combined, then frozen. The “frozen” half is made up as you would an ice cream, with egg yolks, sugar, and a fruit/flavor element; it is then gloriously folded in with whipped cream. The idea is that the cream never fully freezes, but, when you freeze it all as one, the consistency is softer and less cold than ice cream.

My First Semi

I was a little skeptical at first; recipes that start in a mixer and end in the freezer can be tricky. I was also flying blind in the way of flavor combinations, but I felt confident in my flavors: cherry because summer, orange because it makes such a bright pairing with cream, and pistachios because the idea of finding a little pop of green nuttiness in that creamy loaf excited me.

I decided to soak my cherries in rum and orange rind/juice to infuse the flavors. That’s the most time consuming part of making this Semifreddo other than the freezing, which, thankfully you can sleep through.

The base is egg yolks and sugar and the remaining juice/liquid from soaking, and then the cherries. Then, you do a 180 and start whipping cream until it’s Just on the safe side of turning into butter.

The best part is yet to come: folding (by hand) the cream into the existing mixture is the best part. The whole thing makes perfect sense.

The (in my case) rosy pink mixture playfully mingles in with the very whipped cream–not friends at first, trying to keep its distance. Soon, they mingle until there is one whipped and creamy pink bowl in front of you.

Frozen

Then it’s off to a well wrapped loaf pan and into the freezer. You can certainly eat it the next day, but I would give it two full nights in the freezer if you want it to truly be ready. The first time I tasted it, my eyes lit up thinking -1- how I didn’t even need to make proper ice cream anymore, and -2- how many different flavor combinations are out there. It’s a pretty wide open field. The recommendations are a flavorful base, either a fruit or other element, and I’d say something textured to round it out: nuts, of course, but you could add in chips, chocolate pieces, caramel, nougat, cookies, a cookie crust, ANYTHING.

The Semifreddo is so forgiving and open to our creative flavorful ideas. Have fun, buena (good luck in the brief), and happy half cold summer!

Orange Cherry Pistachio Semifreddo

Mimi

This summery Semifreddo is an Italian classic: half ice cream, half whipped cream with rum and orange soaked cherries and pistachios, frozen into a consistency softer and less cold than traditional ice cream, a whipped frozen delight.

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Prep Time 6 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Soaking Time 40 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Dessert

Cuisine Italian

Servings 8

Equipment

• Loaf Pan for Freezing

Ingredients

  

• 1 cup cherries, chopped & pitted plus additional for serving
• 1 tbsp orange zest (2 medium oranges)
• 1/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice from oranges
• 1/4 cup rum or rum extract
• 6 egg yolks
• 1.5 cups granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped pistachios, plus additional for serving
• Small orange slices for garnish (optional)

Instructions

 

• Toast the pistachios over a low heat for 2-3 minutes until fragrant.
• Soak the cherries with the orange zest, juice, and rum for at least 30 minutes, 40 is ideal. Drain the juice from the cherries and set aside.
• Line a metal loaf pan with parchment paper, followed by cling film. Make sure it is snug, and there is plenty of extra parchment and cling film arising from the loaf pan sides since you need to cover the Semifreddo when it goes into the freezer.
• In a mixer on medium/low, beat the egg yolks and sugar until creamy. Add the salt, followed by the soaking liquid that you have reserved. Continue mixing until the consistency is even throughout.
• Add the chopped cherries and mix just until they are distributed. Set aside the mixing bowl.
• Separately, whip the heavy cream until Very whipped, almost too thick but of course, pre-butter!
• Add the whipped cream into the mixing bowl of cherry mix and fold gently by hand, with a rubber spatula. Keep folding as you try to integrate the two textures without knocking the air out. The mix must remain fluffy and light. Towards the end of the folding, add in the chopped pistachios and keep folding until they are well distributed.
• Carefully pour the Semifreddo into the loaf pan until it reaches just under the top (I managed to use just about all it it.) Smooth out the top and gently wrap the top with the parchment and the cling film. Pop it into the freezer and check back the next morning, or six hours at the very earliest. I found it really needed overnight or even two for perfection.
• You can slide the Semifreddo out of the loaf pan when ready to serve–the high sides of cling film will help here. Adorn the top with additional orange slices, cherries, and ground pistachios if you like to show off (I did!)
  

Notes

• For the loaf pan, I use little binder clips to affix the parchment paper and cling film to the sides of the pan. They work like a charm and keep things in place!

 

• You can always soak fruit the night before if you are making this recipe or your own fruity combination and want to make the Semifreddo without waiting until the freezer makes you wait.

 

• I wasn’t kidding above. This was my very first Semifreddo and I knocked it out of the park flavor and texture wise (if I do say so myself!). Think about complimentary flavor combinations, boozy additions/soaking liquid, nuts or textured elements and have fun! It’s the Italian way. Honest and delicious:)

Keyword Almond Orange Olive Oil Cake, cherries, Chocolate Pistachio Blondies, creamy, frozen, half cold, ice cream, italian, no bake, nuts, rum, semifreddo, whipped cream