Roasted Strawberry and Rosemary Semifreddo

Somewhere in between a mousse and an ice cream, this semi-freddo is firm enough to be sliced, but smooth and creamy enough to melt in your mouth.

Deriving its name from Italian meaning half-frozen, a semifreddo sits somewhere between a mousse and an ice-cream and a mousse. This roasted strawberry and rosemary semifreddo has a subtle but refreshing strawberry flavour and does not require churning like a custard-based ice cream.

Roasting strawberries not only deepens their flavour, but also draws out the excess water to ensure you have a semifreddo which is not too icy. The rosemary may seem like a lot, but the flavour really mellows out when frozen. I initially tested the recipe with two sprigs and you could barely tell it was there.

The pictures which I shot had strawberry jam swirled through the semifreddo, instead of the strawberry puree in the recipe below. The result was a cloyingly sweet dessert which none of us really enjoyed, so we went back to the drawing board. I really was not in the mood to reshoot these however, so used the pics with the strawberry jam in the recipe (don’t judge me – I made this three times to get it right! I had no energy to shoot it three times).

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FOR THE ROASTED STRAWBERRY AND ROSEMARY SEMIFREDDO

• 200ml whipping cream
• 5 – 6 long sprigs of rosemary
• 1 large egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 150g caster sugar plus a further 25g caster sugar
• pinch of salt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice plus 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon lemon zest
• 800g strawberries, washed and cut into quarters

METHOD

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celcius. Grease and line an oven sheet tray with baking paper.
2. Line a 450g loaf tin with cling wrap such that the entire inside of the tin is covered, and there is enough cling wrap as an overhang to lift out the semifreddo.
3. Place the whipping cream and rosemary in a medium saucepan and place on medium heat until the cream is simmering, but not boiling. Switch off and let come to a lukewarm temperature, before placing in the fridge to infuse for an hour.
4. To roast the strawberries, toss them with 25g of caster sugar and place on the baking tray. Roast in the oven for 15 – 25 minutes, until the juices are thickening and the strawberries are soft and jammy, but not burnt. Keep an eye on them and ensure that the syrupy juices on the tray do not turn black.
5. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, then add the lemon zest a tablespoon of the lemon juice and use an immersion blender to blitz this to a puree. You will need 300g of this for the semifreddo and the rest for swirling and folding through the mixture.
6. Remove the rosemary from the chilled cream and whip it to soft peaks. Add in the vanilla and place in the fridge until needed.
7. Place the remaining 150g caster sugar, egg, egg yolks, salt and teaspoon of lemon zest into a large heatproof bowl. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water, to dissolve the sugar into the eggs, making sure to not the let bowl touch the water to prevent the eggs from scrambling.
8. Once a bit of the mixture, rubbed between your fingers, feels smooth with no sugar granules, whisk this on medium speed with an electric mixer until the mixture has tripled in volume and is light and airy. This will take about 5 – 7 minutes. This should also cool down the mixture to room temperature.
9. Fold the 300g of the roasted strawberry puree through the egg mixture, followed by the whipped cream.
10. Place a third of the mixture into your lined tin, then swirl some of the remaining roasted strawberry puree through the mixture, repeat with the next third and the strawberry puree and finally the last bit of the mixture. You may have some strawberry puree left over (which would be delicious with vanilla yogurt).
11. Place this in the freezer to set overnight.

FOR THE MACERATED STRAWBERRIES

• 120g fresh strawberries, hulled and quartered
• 2 teaspoons icing sugar
• squeeze of fresh lemon juice

METHOD

1. An hour before serving the semifreddo, place the strawberries, icing sugar and lemon in a bowl and massage to bring all the flavours together.
2. Place in the fridge for the sugar to draw out the natural moisture of the strawberries and form a syrup.
3. When ready to serve, dip the tin in a bowl of cold water for a few seconds to loosen the semifreddo from the tin, then flip over onto a plate and lift off the tin.
4. Spoon over the macerated strawberries and enjoy.

Recipe by adventureswithsugar.com