We all scream for semifreddo

Kendall Vanderslice has had a checkered career in the field of culinary arts and sciences which has taken her around the world. Holding an advanced degree in Gastronomy she has worked as a pastry chef in many of the top kitchens of Boston. At one location she specialized in ice cream desserts, which is not necessarily unusual until you realize that during that posting the restaurant in question did not have a single ice cream maker on its premises. How did she do it? By borrowing a centuries-old trick or two from the Italians.

While ice cream is undeniably the quintessential American dessert (we consume on average some 30 quarts of it per capita), we hardly invented it. Rather, its origins can be traced way back to ancient China. There a combination of mountain snow and saltpeter was used to freeze containers of syrup, a procedure that caught the attention of Marco Polo, who brought it back to Italy.

Ever since, Italians, especially in Venice, have earned a reputation for making some of the best ice creams in the world. Thus, if you're like me, your first taste of, say, Italian gelato may have given credence to the legend that King Henry II of France married Catherine de Medicis primarily for her ice cream recipes.

But there's more to Italian ice cream than just gelato. There are many other approaches, and among the most versatile and uncomplicated of them is semifreddo, a concoction short of actual ice cream, because it requires no churn to make. Yet to my mind, it is every bit as flavorful and frankly, with a mere handful of ingredients a bit more elegant and sophisticated than mere ice cream. It cleverly uses something other than an ice cream maker to introduce air into the finished product.

For my money (and they've gotten lots of it over the years) the best ice cream shop in America is Salt & Straw, headquartered in Portland, Oregon. And the people there underscore in their recent cookbook a principle not always recognized when making ice cream: air is a determinant ingredient in the process. But you don't have to have an ice cream churn to introduce air into the final product. You can do it at the front of the process as well, and that's the beauty of semifreddo. Whipped cream is simply folded into the mixture before it's frozen.

Try it and you may soon be singing, "I scream, you scream, we all scream for: semifreddo!"

Cream is whipped and then folded into the base for semifreddo in advance of freezing, rendering an ice cream maker unnecessary.Submitted by Tom Harte

Cream is whipped and then folded into the base for semifreddo in advance of freezing, rendering an ice cream maker unnecessary.Submitted by Tom Harte

Semifreddo Variations

Because semifreddo is so quick and easy to make you could conceivably have every one of the following versions ripening in your freezer at the same time, something not as easy to do with conventional churned ice cream. These are my favorite variations, but there are doubtless lots of others you'll want to try or create. And once again, because of its simplicity, it takes little time to experiment with flavor combinations. So have at it.

A mere handful of ingredients is all it takes to make semifreddo, a sophisticated Italian take on ice cream, and no ice cream machine is required.Submitted by Tom Harte

A mere handful of ingredients is all it takes to make semifreddo, a sophisticated Italian take on ice cream, and no ice cream machine is required.Submitted by Tom Harte

• Lime and Dried Cranberry semifreddo: Zest one lime. Juice it and three additional limes and combine with 1/2 cup dried cranberries. Let cranberries macerate for 30 minutes until softened. Fold in 1 cup sweetened condensed milk. Whip 1/2 cup heavy cream to soft peaks and fold into condensed milk mixture. Freeze five hours. (adapted from Foodal.com)
• Earl Grey semifreddo. Heat 1/2 cup milk to a simmer, add 1 teaspoon dried culinary lavender and 1 bag Earl Grey tea and one teaspoon vanilla, cover and let steep refrigerated for 2-3 hours. Strain. Beat 2 cups heavy cream to stiff peaks and combine with 12 ounces sweetened condensed milk. Freeze six hours. (adapted from Foodduchess.com)
• Salted caramel bourbon semifreddo. Combine 1 1/3 cups Carnation caramel (dulce de leche) with 1 1/4 cups heavy cream and 1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt and whisk until thickened. Incorporate 1 to 3 tablespoons bourbon. Fold ingredients together and freeze eight hours. Serve topped with pecans. (adapted from Nigella Lawson)
• Lemon blueberry semifreddo. Beat two cups heavy cream until thick. Fold in one can sweetened condensed milk and 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract. Fold in one cup blueberries. Freeze six hours. Serve garnished with lemon slices. (adapted from wondermomwannabe.com)