Cappuccino Semifreddo with Almond Biscotti
By America's Test KitchenPublished on August 22, 2007
Time
55 minutes, plus 8 hours freezing
Yield
Serves 8
Ingredients
Before You Begin
When whipping cream during warm weather, you’ll get the best results if you chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for at least twenty minutes first. In this recipe, try to coordinate the sugar syrup reaching 238 degrees and the egg whites reaching soft peaks stage. But don’t despair if they are out of sync. Beating the whites can be interrupted just before they reach soft peaks, and resumed at any point. If the syrup heats beyond 238 degrees, you can cool it by adding a small amount of cold water; one tablespoon should cool the syrup about 7 degrees, and you can add as many as four tablespoons if need be.
Instructions
- Line 6-cup loaf pan with plastic wrap with a 3-inch overhang all around; place in freezer. Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment; set aside. Whip cream to soft peaks at medium speed; cover and refrigerate.
- Mix 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in 1-quart saucepan. Warm mixture over low heat without stirring until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, simmer mixture toward its final temperature of 238 degrees. When sugar syrup reaches 210 degrees, begin beating egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 40 seconds. Add 1 teaspoon of remaining sugar and increase speed to high; beat until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining 5 teaspoons sugar. Decrease speed to medium-high; pour 238-degree syrup into whites in thin, steady stream (avoid hitting rotating beater and sides of bowl); continue beating until mixture is glossy, doubled in volume, and cooled to room temperature, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in coffee mixture and vanilla.
- Gently stir one-third of whipped cream into egg white mixture with rubber spatula; fold in remaining whipped cream and 6 tablespoons biscotti bits. Scrape mixture to prepared pan, spreading evenly with rubber spatula. Fold overhanging plastic wrap over mixture and press gently onto surface; freeze until firm, at least 8 hours (can be frozen up to 1 month).
- To unmold, remove plastic wrap from surface and invert loaf pan onto serving plate, then remove plastic wrap; smooth surface with spatula if desired. Sprinkle with remaining biscotti bits; slice and serve immediately.
Time
55 minutes, plus 8 hours freezingYield
Serves 8Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Ingredients
Test Kitchen Techniques
Why This Recipe Works
Our ideal semifreddo recipe, which is something of a cross between a custard and ice cream, features a light vanilla mousse speckled with crushed amaretti cookies and nuts and frozen in a loaf-shaped mold, served in thick slices with a pot of bittersweet chocolate sauce for drizzling. Touched by the warm sauce, the semifreddo immediately begins to melt, blurring the line between cool, airy cream and smooth, rich chocolate. To develop this recipe, we started with a cooked, or Italian, meringue, in which a hot sugar syrup is poured into the egg whites as they are beaten. Because the syrup cooks the whites, the meringue becomes more stable and, we hoped, better equipped to stand up to the addition of other ingredients. This did in fact prove to be the case, and so we went on to make several different versions of the dessert as well as a bittersweet chocolate sauce to pour over it.
Before You Begin
When whipping cream during warm weather, you’ll get the best results if you chill the bowl and beaters in the freezer for at least twenty minutes first. In this recipe, try to coordinate the sugar syrup reaching 238 degrees and the egg whites reaching soft peaks stage. But don’t despair if they are out of sync. Beating the whites can be interrupted just before they reach soft peaks, and resumed at any point. If the syrup heats beyond 238 degrees, you can cool it by adding a small amount of cold water; one tablespoon should cool the syrup about 7 degrees, and you can add as many as four tablespoons if need be.
Instructions
- Line 6-cup loaf pan with plastic wrap with a 3-inch overhang all around; place in freezer. Place egg whites in bowl of electric mixer fitted with whisk attachment; set aside. Whip cream to soft peaks at medium speed; cover and refrigerate.
- Mix 1/4 cup water and 1/2 cup sugar in 1-quart saucepan. Warm mixture over low heat without stirring until sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, simmer mixture toward its final temperature of 238 degrees. When sugar syrup reaches 210 degrees, begin beating egg whites on medium speed until frothy, about 40 seconds. Add 1 teaspoon of remaining sugar and increase speed to high; beat until soft peaks form, about 2 minutes. Gradually beat in remaining 5 teaspoons sugar. Decrease speed to medium-high; pour 238-degree syrup into whites in thin, steady stream (avoid hitting rotating beater and sides of bowl); continue beating until mixture is glossy, doubled in volume, and cooled to room temperature, 4 to 5 minutes. Beat in coffee mixture and vanilla.
- Gently stir one-third of whipped cream into egg white mixture with rubber spatula; fold in remaining whipped cream and 6 tablespoons biscotti bits. Scrape mixture to prepared pan, spreading evenly with rubber spatula. Fold overhanging plastic wrap over mixture and press gently onto surface; freeze until firm, at least 8 hours (can be frozen up to 1 month).
- To unmold, remove plastic wrap from surface and invert loaf pan onto serving plate, then remove plastic wrap; smooth surface with spatula if desired. Sprinkle with remaining biscotti bits; slice and serve immediately.
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