Strawberries & Cream Semifreddo
This heavenly strawberries and cream semifreddo is super creamy and full of fresh strawberries, picked from the garden. The perfect cooling dessert to prepare and eat on a hot summer’s day.
While homemade ice cream is delicious, it is not without its complications and most of us just go and buy some. Semifreddo is the easy answer, skip churning ice cream and try an easier dessert. It takes 15 minutes to prepare and then it just needs to be poured into a suitable container and frozen for a minimum of 6 hours or overnight.
Make sure to use good quality, ripe strawberries. You should be able to smell their sweet scent from across the room. Bite into one of these plump, juicy red berries and you’ll get a big burst of sweetness in your mouth. Farmers’ markets are a great place to find fresh ripe strawberries. If you’re making this in the autumn or winter, you can use frozen ones.
If you decide to give this recipe a try, let me know! Leave a comment below and rate it – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing what you think! And don’t forget to take a picture and tag me @thegourmetlarder or hashtag it #thegourmetlarder on Instagram or Facebook. I love seeing what you’ve been baking! 🙂
RECIPE HIGHLIGHTS
- EASE: easy.
- FREE FROM: this recipe is free from gluten, for sugar-free options, please refer to my substitutions section.
- GREAT FOR: everyday dessert, weekend baking, BBQ, friends and family visiting.
- TASTE & TEXTURE: a light, creamy, fruity ice cream.
- SERVING: delicious served with additional fresh fruit or a summer berry coulis.
- QUANTITY: 6 portions
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INGREDIENTS
For this recipe all you need are these ingredients:
- Fresh strawberries – are the summer hero of this recipe. Look for good quality, ripe ones from farmers’ markets.
- Caster or granulated white sugar – sweetens the semifreddo just a little.
- Strawberry liquor (optional) – adds an extra boost of flavour.
- Double cream or whipping – strawberries and cream, one of the best combinations.
- Vanilla extract or paste – adds flavour and enhances the other ingredient flavours.
– Vanilla recommendations: pure vanilla extract or vanilla paste or vanilla pods.
- Eggs – add lightness and structure to the semifreddo.
TIP: I highly recommend adding a good pinch of salt to your sweet creations. Salt helps balance out the sweetness and richness. It also elevates the other ingredients, bring out the best characteristics of the recipe. In a seemingly absurd or contradictory way, salt intensifies the mouth’s ability to taste sweetness. Sodium sends signals to move glucose into the sweet taste receptor cells in our tongue, triggering the cells to register sweetness. The result is that salt not only alerts our ‘salt sensitivity’, but also our ‘sweet sensitive’ taste buds.
I recommend Maldon Sea salt flakes or Cornish sea salt.
SUBSTITUTIONS
While I am making recommendations for alternative ingredients, I haven’t necessarily tried them. If you try making any adaptions, I would love to know how you get on and share it with the other readers.
SUGAR-FREE AND LOW-CALORIE OPTIONS
- Sugar-free or calorie reduced options: try alternatives such as coconut sugar, honey, natural erythritol, xylitol, stevia or fructooligosaccharide powder instead. There are also sweetener mixes available, that are 70% calorie reduced and low in carb.
- Brown sugar suggestions: Pure Via Baker’s soft brown sugar or Sukrin Gold’s natural brown sugar alternative.
VEGAN OPTIONS
- Cream: I recommend the Coconut Collaborative double cream or Elmlea plant based double cream.
WHAT VARIATIONS CAN I MAKE?
- Spices and herbs – try adding 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, cardamom or nutmeg to the cream. Basil or mint also adds a nice alternative flavour.
- Citrus fruit – for a bit of zing, add lemon, lime, or orange zest to the sugar.
- Try different fruits – this recipe works well with many other fruits. Try blueberries, raspberries, peaches, cherries or whatever’s in season.
- Serve it with a berry coulis – simply wash, hull and quarter 250g strawberries or other soft fruits. Add 50g icing sugar and a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice (optional). Leave to sit for 10-15 minutes then blend into a smooth sauce using a hand blender. Finally, pass through a fine sieve for an extra smooth finish.
If you experiment, Please leave a comment at the bottom of the post – it’s really helpful to me and other readers knowing how you got on and I regularly update these posts and the feedback I receive helps to make the recipes even more useful.
NUTRITION
Serving: one slice
Nutrition information can vary for a recipe based on factors such as precision of measurements, brands, ingredient freshness, or the source of nutrition data.
I strive to keep the information as accurate as possible but make no warranties regarding its accuracy.
I encourage you to make your own calculations based on the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
STORAGE AND FREEZING
Freezing: This semifreddo is best eaten within a month. It’s still perfectly edible after that, but it might start to form ice crystals through it.
© THE GOURMET LARDER. All images and content are copyright protected. If you want to share this recipe, please do so using the share buttons provided. Please do not republish the recipe or its content in full instead, include a link to this post for the recipe. Further information can be found in my FAQ’s.
TOOLS YOU’LL NEED
Here is a list of some kitchen equipment that I use and recommend for this recipe.
I like this model of electric hand mixer because it comes with a large stand, meaning you don’t have to always hold it.
This is one machine that I use almost everyday. I find its multifunctional abilities very useful. I can use it to mix batters or cream liquids together and because its small I can use it to ground nuts and make fruit puree.
Perfect for banana bread, lemon drizzle, pound cake and traditional loaves.
Please check out my Shop for a curated collection of some of my favourite baking equipment. The Gourmet Larder is an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
TIP: I highly recommend using metric measurements and a digital kitchen scale, rather than cup measurements. If you have ever ended up with dry, dense or crumbly baked goods, it might be because of inaccurate volume measurements, not all measuring cups are made equally. All my recipes on this blog are carefully developed so that you can easily recreate them in your own kitchen with success, using metric measurements. It is also a lot easier, less messy and you will get far better, consistent results. 🙂
If you are interested in understanding conversions, here you will find the best conversion chart.
RECIPE TIPS
Avoid over-mixing the cream, as we want a nice light cream with soft peaks.
When folding in the egg whites, gently turn the mixture in on itself with a cutting motion, not stirring. I tend to use a large spoon or spatula to do this. This way, you won’t lose all the air that you have spent time whisking into the eggs.
Strawberries & Cream Semifreddo
INGREDIENTS LIST
- 300 g strawberries (washed and stalks removed)
- 100 g caster sugar
- 25 ml strawberry liquor (optional)
- 300 ml double cream (US: heavy cream)
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/4 tsp of vanilla paste
- 2 medium eggs (120g)
Preparation
- Line a 900g (2lb) loaf tin or earthenware dish with cling film, leaving an overhang of 5-6 cm (2 inches) on all the ends. Chill the tin / dish in the freezer at least 20 minutes before you are ready to start.
- Place half the strawberries, sugar and liquor (if using) into a small saucepan over a medium heat and stir to dissolve. Simmer until reduced by half (8-10 minutes).
- In a large mixing bowl, pour in the cream and vanilla extract and whip the cream at high speed until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes.Return the bowl with the cream to the fridge while proceeding with the next steps.
- In a large mixing bowl, beat the eggs on medium speed until foamy, about 1 minute. With the mixer running, slowly add the hot strawberry mixture into the eggs in a thin stream. Continue beating until the mixture is very light and fluffy and feels cool to the touch (approx. 8 minutes).
- Cut the remaining strawberries into halves or quarters and add them to the egg mix with the whipped cream. Gently fold them in until incorporated.
- Remove the prepared pan / dish from the freezer and pour or spoon the mixture into it. Cover securely with the overhanging plastic wrap and return to the freezer. Freeze until set, at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Unwrap and invert onto a serving plate or serve in the earthenware dish, lift off the pan and remove the plastic wrap. decorate with additional strawberries and serve immediately. Enjoy!
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