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(Recipes by Donna Borooah; Produced by Aimee Nishitoba; Photography by Christie Vuong; Food styling by Eshun Mott; Prop styling by Madeleine Johari)
This dessert will be your back-pocket recipe all season: Make the semifreddo and compote ahead of time to suit your schedule. The best part? A semifreddo is just that: semi-firm. This dessert won’t get too solid to eat, no matter how long it’s frozen.
1 454 g pkg strawberries, hulled
1/3 cup liquid honey, (107 g)
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/8 tsp salt
3 egg whites
1/4 cup granulated sugar, (48 g)
3 tbsp liquid honey, (60 g)
1/8 tsp salt
1 cup 35% cream, chilled
Compote: Mash strawberries in a medium saucepan using a potato masher, until roughly puréed with some chunks. Add 1⁄3 cup honey, lemon juice and 1⁄8 tsp salt. Bring to a boil over medium-high. Cook, stirring often, until foam subsides and compote coats the back of a spoon, 6 to 8 min. Transfer to a wide bowl and set aside to cool, 30 min.
Semifreddo: When compote is almost cool, line a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with parchment, leaving overhang on all sides.
Stir together egg whites, sugar, 3 tbsp honey and 1⁄8 tsp salt in a large, heatproof bowl. Fill a large saucepan with 1-inch water and bring to a simmer over medium; place bowl overtop. Stir until mixture is warm and sugar dissolves, 3 min. Remove bowl from heat. Beat with an electric mixer on high, until stiff peaks form and bowl is cool to the touch, 5 to 8 min. Set aside.
Beat cream in another large bowl using an electric mixer on medium-high, until stiff peaks form, 3 min. Carefully fold a third of cream into meringue mixture until just combined. Repeat with the remaining two-thirds of cream. Add half of the cooled compote. Gently fold a few times, leaving large streaks of strawberry remaining. Refrigerate remaining compote for serving.
Transfer semifreddo mixture to prepared loaf pan, smoothing the top. Holding each short end of the loaf pan, tap on the counter a few times to burst any large, hidden bubbles. Press another piece of parchment onto the surface. Wrap the whole pan tightly with foil or compostable wrap. Freeze until firm, 8 hr. Freeze or refrigerate serving platter and plates for at least 30 min.
To serve, peel away and discard parchment, then invert onto chilled serving platter. Cut into 8 slices. Divide semifreddo among the chilled plates, then top with remaining compote.
Well-wrapped semifreddo will keep frozen for up to 1 month. Compote will keep refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
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