Raspberry Limoncello Semifreddo

We had guests last night - Linda and Anders from Gothenburg, who are the proud owners of beautiful little Honey from Kelly's last litter (she's number three in that post), and two other gorgeous cats. We had a great time, and of course, ate some good food! Linda is a keen cook and I had a lot of fun thinking of what to make for her. For dessert, I settled on this wonderful semifreddo!

The recipe originally comes from BBC Good Food, but I've exchanged homemade vanilla sugar for their suggestion of golden caster sugar. The vanilla brings a certain roundness to the flavors, and I much prefer it.

And not to sound like a broken record, but you really should make your own vanilla sugar. Simply stick a couple of vanilla pods - broken up is better - in a pot of sugar. Shake it around a bit. Fill up with sugar as you use it. That's all there is to it.

As for limoncello, it's a gorgeous Italian lemon liqueur. As it happens, it's easy to make your own!

You can make this dessert well in advance, just remember to bring it out of the freezer about half an hour before you want to eat it or it will be frozen solid and impossible to cut. The sauce can be frozen as well if you want to have it at hand, but it takes just a few minutes to whip up. And if you have lots of fresh raspberries, they'd be lovely to use for this. If not, frozen are certainly fine - that's what I used.

This post is actually on topic for the raspberry event at Garten-Koch! Check it out here.

Raspberry Limoncello Semifreddo
Serves 10-12

Semifreddo:
200 g raspberries, fresh or frozen and thawed
80 g homemade vanilla sugar (divided) or golden caster sugar
300 ml heavy cream (35-40% fat)
400 ml full fat crème fraîche
4 tbsp limoncello

Sauce:
250 g raspberries, fresh or frozen and thawed
1-2 tbsp white syrup (just substitute sugar if you don't have white syrup at hand)
2 tbsp limoncello

You need a dish or mold that holds about a litre, 4 cups. A silicone mold means you won't have any problems getting the semifreddo out, so that's my recommendation. If you use a regular tin or dish, line it with parchment paper.

For the semifreddo, start by mashing the berries with 40 g of the sugar in a bowl. Beat the cream with the rest of the sugar and the limoncello until it holds soft peaks. In another bowl, beat the crème fraîche until it thickens. Gently fold it into the cream mixture. Finally, carefully swirl in the raspberries, but don't overmix it.

Pour into your prepared dish and freeze, over night is preferrable but I think you can get away with 6 hours if you're in a hurry.

Sauce: Mix the raspberries with white syrup or sugar, and limoncello. Blend with an immersion blender or a regular blender until the sauce is smooth. Pass through a sieve if you want to get rid of the seeds. Serve with the semifreddo.

Recipe in Swedish:
Hallon- och Limoncello Semifreddo