Summer classics

Continuing my series of all things summer, I have decided to make something summery, light and tasty all through this scorching season. Now, all of us love ice cream … don’t we? Ice-cream to me is comfort food – it’s something I eat when I’m down, when I’m happy, when I’m nervous, when I want to share, when I want to celebrate or when I’m just plain bored.

But I have a problem…my problem is that I don’t much care for most of the brands that are available at the department store nowadays, well maybe with the odd exception of a Ben N’ Jerry’s, Hagendaaz or Movenpick. Unfortunately, these are proving to be way too expensive on the pocket and let’s face it – I already feel bad about piling on the pounds, I shouldn’t be paying Rs 800 a litre to aid the effort now should I?

So after much dilly-dallying and whining, I decided to make ice-cream at home instead. Now the first batch came out okay, but the second one was a complete disaster. Why? Well, cos I don’t have an ice cream maker at home and the lack of one results in ice crystals in the ice cream, which to me is a complete no-no.

Down, but not out, I decided to pore over my recipe books to find an alternative and voila! I found my substitute…I’m now the Queen of Semifreddo and not only is this frozen dessert as gorgeous as any ice cream or gelato you have tasted, it’s also extremely easy and hardly requires any effort. Here’s what I made yesterday:

Caramel Semifreddo with praline

Ingredients

Praline

·         100g caster sugar

·         1/2 tsp salt

Semifreddo

·         100g caster sugar

·         50ml water

·         50g salted butter chopped

·         1 tsp salt

·         150ml milk

·         2 egg yolks

·         50g caster sugar

·         1 tsp vanilla extract

·         350ml thickened cream

 

Method:

For the praline

Pour the sugar in a even layer in a heavy based saucepan (not anything black as you’ll need to see the colour). Line a baking tray with baking paper that’s lightly greased. Over a medium fire, heat the sugar until the edges being to melt and it’s slightly brown. Using a silicone spatula, gently stir the melted sugar, scraping the botton and edges, into the centre. Stir until sugar has dissolved. Any lumps or clumps will eventually melt into the caramel. Stir occasionally until the caramel starts to smoke and is a deep amber colour. This is where you need to work fast to prevent the caramel from burning. Immediately stir in the salt (take no more than a split second) then without hesitation, quickly pour the caramel onto baking tray. Lift up the baking tray straight away, tilt, and swirl so the caramel will spread over the tray to make as thin of a layer as you can. Set aside to cool and set.

For the semifreddo

Crush the sheet of praline into small chunks. You can use a mortar and pestle or break it into shards, pop into a plastic bag and bash it with a mallet or rolling pin. Set the crushed praline aside. Combine the 100g sugar and 50ml water in a heavy based saucepan over a medium heat and stir until sugar has dissolved. Brush sugar crystals off the sides of the pan with a wet pastry brush then cook until a deep amber colour (around 8-10 minutes). Meanwhile whisk egg yolks with the 50g sugar and vanilla  until pale, fluffy and thickened (about 6 minutes with a powerful electric hand mixer). Set aside.

When caramel is the right colour, add the butter and salt and stir to combine (be careful of the splitting!). Add the milk and stir until mixed. While whisking the yolk mixture continuously, slowly and steadily pour the caramel in a thin stream until it’s all incorporated. Continue whisking for another five minutes to cool the mixture down. Alternative submerge the bowl in an ice and water bath until it has come to room temperature then refrigerate until cold. When it has cooled, whip the cream until soft peaks and gently fold with the crushed praline into the cooled yolk mixture. Pour into your container, cover loosely with cling wrap and freeze for at least 6 hours or overnight. You’ll probably have to let it sit out of the freezer for 5 minutes for it to be soft enough to scoop into and serve.