Dialy Diary Exerpt

Semifreddo con Granella e Salsa di Cioccolato

Semifreddo with ground Nut Brittle and Chocolate Sauce

Semifreddo, which means “almost frozen,” unites the creamy coldess of gelato with the airy lightness of mousse. I grew up on it, and it’s added more than a handful around my midriff. The granella, a ground-up nut brittle, gives this semifreddo a tasty candy-bar crunch. (If you don’t want to make our own granella, you can buy a bar of peanut brittle and a bar of almond brittle, break them up, and grind them in a food processor.) For a really decadent flourish, serve the semifreddo with warm chocolate sauce and strawberries.

(serves 8)

3 medium eggs, separated 1/3 cup water

6 ½ tablespoons sugar Chocolate Sauce

½ cup Granella 3 cups fresh washed strawberries

1 ½ cups heavy cream

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with 2 ½ tablespoons of the sugar until they are pale. Add the granella and mix well. In the bowl of an electric mixer, whip the heavy cream on medium-high speed until it begins to thicken, then lower the speed and continue beating until the cream is stiff and glossy. Fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture. Beat the egg whites until they are stiff and smoth.

In a saucepan, bring the remaining 4 tablespoons of sugar and the water to a lively bubble and let it cook for 3 minutes, or until the syrup is clear. Remove it from the heat. Turn you mixer to high, and slowly pour the syrup into the egg whites, beating the 2 ingredients together for about 3 minutes. The mixture should triple in volume. Turn the mixer down to medium and beat until the whites cool to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture. Combine well but do not overmix, or the batter will fall.

Spoon the mixture into individual custard cups and freeze for about 6 hours, or until frozen completely like ice cream. Serve with the chocolate sauce and strawberries, if you wish.

Granella

ground Nut Brittle

¾ cup sugar

1 generous cup nuts (hazlenuts, almonds, peanuts) toasted and cooled

sweet butter- for the pan

melt the sugar in a medium saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly , then remove it from the heat, add the toasted nuts, and stir to coat the nuts well.

transfer the mixture into a well buttered sheet pan and spread to cover the bottom of the pan. let cool in room temp then move to freezer until it becomes brittle.

break the granella into chunks that will fit into food processor. process the granella until its course and crumbly. Granella can be used to garnish many sweets. store these ground nuts in a container wrapped with plastic in a cool dry place. will keep for about a month.