Strawberry Nutella Semifreddo

As a native Baltimoron, you think I would be used to ridiculously humid almost triple digit temperature mid-Atlantic summer days.  Nope, not so much.  Even though I love summer weather there is always that week where you can't even move it is so sticky hot.  All you need is a snowball and a beach chair.  Because I cannot get my beloved tastee tops or trek to Bethany yet, I decided I would make myself a frozen treat!

Semifreddo is an Italian frozen dessert that means "half cold."  Basically, you make a mousse and then freeze it!  No extra equipment is required, just a hand mixer for the whipped cream and a double boiler to cook the eggs.  Plus, it really makes an impression when it is flipped out of its mold.  I decided to stick with the Italian theme and went to my go to: NUTELLA.  I love dipping strawberries in nutella, so I decided to make a fast strawberry sauce to incorporate into one of the bases.

I sloppily layered the strawberry and nutella layers, but if you want even layers I would recommend freezing after each addition.  After about 4 hours of freezing, you'll be able to unturn the mold and present your beautiful semifreddo.  Decorate with some of the leftover strawberry sauce and nutella, maybe some fresh strawberries or toasted hazelnuts as well.  An easy ice cream fake out without the effort or extra equipment, the perfect project for a muggy summer day!




Strawberry Nutella Semifreddo
Semifreddo:
4 eggs
1/4 cup of sugar
1/3 cup of strawberry sauce
1/3 cup of nutella
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
2 cups of heavy cream

Strawberry Sauce:
2 cups chopped strawberries
1 teaspoon of orange zest
juice of 1 orange
2 tablespoons of sugar
enough water to almost cover the berries
pinch of salt

Begin by making the strawberry sauce.  In a small saucepan, add the chopped strawberries, orange zest and juice, sugar, and pinch of salt.  Add enough water to almost cover the berries.

Over medium-high heat, bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce to simmer.  Let cook for about 15 minutes, until the strawberries begin to break down and the sauce has thickened.  Buzz up with an immersion blender or a regular blender, strain with a sieve if you want to avoid seeds (I didn't).

Make the base for the semifreddo by whisking together the 4 eggs with the sugar in a glass bowl.  Cook over a double boiler: just a little bit of water at a rolling boil in a small saucepan with the glass bowl perched on top...

Whisk for 5 minutes, until the egg mixture has thickened.  Let cool.  You should get about 1 cup, divide it into 2 parts for both the strawberry and nutella base.

For the strawberry base, whisk in 1/3 cup of the strawberry sauce.  For the nutella base, heat up the nutella in microwave for about 30 second and slowly whisk it into the egg base, adding the freshly grated nutmeg.

At this point, whip the heavy cream until it forms stiff peaks.  Begin to incorporate it into both base by adding a little whipped cream and thoroughly incorporating.  This will make the texture of both bases more similar to the whipped cream and thus easier to fold.

Split the rest of the whipped cream evenly between the two lightened bases and fold gently.  You do not have to have uniform incorporation, just until it looks almost done with a few ribbons left.  Congrats, you made mouse!

Spray a 9x5 loaf pan with a light coating of cooking spray and line with plastic wrap.  Add 1/2 of the strawberry mousse, 1/2 of the nutella mousse, and then repeat.  Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.

When you are ready to serve, let the semifreddo sit for about 10 minutes at room temperature before carefully easing out the dessert and unturning on a serving platter.  Top with strawberry sauce and nutella and serve up in slices.  Enjoy!