In The Kitchen With Deb
In the Kitchen with Deb | Berry semifreddo with crunchy honey wafers
Debbie Quinn has a lifelong love of food and cooking, nurtured in her parents’ restaurants and in her own family’s kitchen. Every fortnight she shares her passion and expertise with our readers, bringing her best recipes, tips and tricks to the table.
Berries are in season and this is a straightforward dessert to have in the freezer over the summer months.
It has hues of honey and vanilla to compliment the berries. Great for Christmas Day, also great to have in the freezer for an impromptu barbecue.
Berry semifreddo
Ingredients
5 large free-range eggs, yolks only
1/4 cup good quality honey
2 vanilla bean pods (cut in half and seeds scraped out)
1 cup mixed berries, roughly chopped (raspberries, blueberries etc)
1/2 cup berries and 1 tbsp honey or maple syrup to serve
Method
Line a regular loaf tin with two layers of plastic wrap (enough hanging over the edge to cover the semifreddo).
In a large bowl, whip the egg yolks and honey with an electric beater until they are very thick and pale (about eight minutes).
In another bowl, whip the cream along with the caster sugar and vanilla bean pod seeds.
Gently fold both mixtures together. Pour the combined mixture into the lined loaf tin, wrap the sides over and freeze for one to two hours.
Uncover and fold through the berries, smooth the top, recover, and freeze for a further three to four hours or overnight.
Honey wafers
Ingredients
150g butter (room temperature)
240g caster sugar
2 tablespoons honey
120g plain flour
2 egg whites
Method
Preheat oven to 170°C. Cream butter and sugar for about five minutes, then add honey, flour and egg whites and beat until combined.
Line a tray with baking paper, then put dessert spoons of the mixture on the baking paper (don’t put them too close together as the mixture spreads quite a bit).
Bake until caramel colour (about six to eight minutes) and cool on tray.
Break the biscuits into shards and place them around the semifreddo.
To serve
Remove the semifredo from the loaf tin, peel off the plastic and cut into thick slices. Serve with reserved extra berries and drizzle with honey or maple syrup.
Deb’s tips
Make sure the loaf tin isn’t too wide. It should be about 9 ½ cm maximum.
You can substitute two teaspoons of vanilla bean paste for the pods if you haven’t got them. It’s a good idea to chop the berries into quarters; they shouldn’t be too big.
You don’t have to make the wafer, the semifreddo is lovely on its own with the extra berries and drizzled honey or maple syrup, but the wafers do add a nice crunch to the dessert if you have the time.
They also keep well in a tight-lidded container for a few days.
Mangoes are also in season now. You can also substitute fresh mango for the berries if you wish.
A couple of mint leaves look great as a garnish as well.