Peach Praline Semifreddo With Amaretti Food

SEMIFREDDO AMARETTI WITH FRESH PEACHES

Steps:

• In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat the egg yolks until they thicken. Add the half-cup of amaretti crumbs and continue beating for five minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl periodically, until the color of the mixture becomes light and the texture quite thick. Stir in the liqueur, if desired.
• In a clean, dry bowl, beat the egg whites at medium speed until they foam. With the mixer at high speed, slowly add one-half cup of confectioner's sugar. Continue beating until the egg whites hold firm - but not stiff -peaks, about three more minutes.
• In a chilled bowl, beat the cream until it forms soft - but not stiff -peaks.
• Fold together the egg whites and the cream.
• Fold one quarter of the cream and egg white mixture into the egg yolks until they are well blended. Fold in the rest of the cream and egg white mixture by halves, deflating the mixture as little as possible.
• Turn the mixture into custard cups, individual molds, a loaf pan or an ice-cube tray without the separator. Cover well with plastic. Freeze for two to three hours. Semifreddo will keep in freezer for several weeks.
• When ready to serve, plunge the peaches into boiling water for 15 seconds. Rinse under cold water, peel and slice very thinly. Toss with lemon juice and the remaining one-half cup confectioner's sugar, adding sugar according to taste.
• Dip the molds (or mold) briefly into hot water and turn out the semifreddo. Serve individual portions or slices of semifreddo, surrounded by peach slices. Garnish the semifreddo (but not the peaches) with broken pieces of amaretti.

PEACH PRALINE SEMIFREDDO WITH AMARETTI

Steps:

• Make crust:
• Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Invert bottom of springform pan (to make it easier to slide semifreddo off bottom), then lock on side and oil pan.
• Stir together ground amaretti and melted butter in a bowl until combined well, then press evenly over bottom and up side of springform pan. Bake until crust is firm and a shade darker, about 10 minutes. Cool completely in pan on a rack, 20 to 30 minutes. Leave oven on.
• Make praline:
• Spread nuts in a shallow baking pan and toast in oven, stirring once or twice, until fragrant and golden, about 10 minutes. Transfer nuts to a bowl. Lightly oil same baking pan.
• Cook sugar in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat, stirring with a fork to heat sugar evenly, until it starts to melt, then stop stirring and cook, swirling skillet occasionally so sugar melts evenly, until it is a dark amber.
• Immediately stir in nuts, then pour mixture into oiled baking pan and let stand to harden and cool completely, about 15 minutes.
• Break praline into pieces, then pulse in cleaned food processor until finely chopped.
• Make semifreddo:
• Pit and coarsely chop peaches, with skins if desired, then purée in cleaned food processor with crushed vitaminutes C, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Force thourough a medium-mesh sieve set over a large metal bowl, pressing on and then discarding solids.
• Stir in egg yolks, then place bowl over a saucepan of barely simmering water and beat with mixer until mixture is thick and pale and registers 140°F on an instant-read thermometer, then beat 3 minutes more (do not let boil).
• Remove bowl from saucepan and set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water. Add almond extract and beat until cold, about 6 minutes.
• Beat cream with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar in another bowl using cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks.
• Fold one third of cream into peach mixture, then fold in praline and remaining cream gently but thoroughly. Pour mixture into cooled crust and freeze, covered with plastic wrap, until firm, at least 3 hours. Let stand in refrigerator 30 minutes to 1 hour before serving.
• Make peach topping while semifreddo stands in refrigerator:
• Cut an X in bottom of each peach, then blanch in a medium saucepan of boiling water 10 seconds. Transfer with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking. Peel peaches and cut into 1/2-inch wedges.
• Toss peaches with crushed vitaminutes C and sugar and let stand, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved, about 10 minutes.
• Spoon peaches over semifreddo with a slotted spoon just before serving.

PEACH CHAMPAGNE SEMIFREDDO

Steps:

• In a stainless steel mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, 1/2 cup of the sugar and a pinch of the salt. Whisk in the champagne. Place the bowl over a pot of simmering water. (The pot should be sitting over, not in the water.) Whisk vigorously until thick, about 3 minutes. Remove the bowl from the pot and place it in a bowl of ice water. Cool until room temperature, stirring occasionally. Whip the cream until soft peaks form. Fold the cream into the cooled champagne mixture.
• Spray a loaf pan with nonstick spray. (I like to use a pan approximately 3 1/2 by 11 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches but a 9-inch square pan will work.) Line the pan with plastic wrap, making sure to press the plastic wrap into the corners of the pan. (The nonstick spray helps the plastic wrap stick to the pan. The plastic wrap makes the terrine easier to unmold.) Gently spread half of the champagne cream into the loaf pan. Place the pan in the freezer for at least 1 hour. Refrigerate the remaining champagne cream.
• Combine the water and the remaining 3/4 cup sugar in a small sauce pot. Bring the sugar and water to a boil over high heat and boil for 1 minute until the sugar is dissolved. Cool the mixture to at least room temperature. (It can be made several days in advance and refrigerated.)
• Peel and pit the 2 pounds of peaches. Puree them in a food processor. Strain the puree through a medium holed sieve. There should be 3 cups of peach puree. Stir 1/2 cup of the sugar syrup into the peach puree. Add the remaining pinch salt and the lemon juice. Taste the peach puree. If it is not sweet enough add a little more sugar syrup. (The amount of sugar necessary will depend on the natural sweetness of the peaches. Extra sugar syrup can be used to sweeten ice tea.) Freeze the peach puree in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's instructions.
• When the peach puree is frozen, spread it evenly into the loaf pan over the frozen champagne cream. Let the puree become firm again in the freezer, then carefully spread the remaining champagne cream on top. Freeze the semifreddo for several hours until hard. It can be made several days in advance.
• Peel the remaining peaches. Cut them in half and remove the pits. Cut in 1/2 inch pieces. Taste the peaches. If they are not very sweet, stir in a little granulated sugar. Often peaches are naturally sweet enough and do not need additional sugar.
• To unmold, invert the loaf pan onto a cutting board. Run a wet hot towel over the pan. Remove the pan. Carefully peel off the plastic wrap.
• Slice the semifreddo and place on a plate. Serve with some of the fresh peaches.

PLUM & AMARETTI SEMIFREDDO

Steps:

• Line a 30 x 20cm tray with cling film. Put the plums in a pan with 2 tbsp water and 110g of the sugar. Cover with a lid and stew over a medium heat for 10 mins until soft. Allow to cool slightly, then blitz with a hand blender. Pass through a sieve to remove the plum skins. Allow to cool.
• Put the remaining sugar in a pan with 150ml water, and dissolve over a low heat. Boil for 5 mins or until the mixture reaches 120C on a cooking thermometer.
• To make the meringue base, whisk the egg whites until stiff. With the beaters running, carefully pour the sugar mixture onto the egg white, whisking until thick. In another bowl, softly whip the cream, then gently fold in the liqueur, plum pulp, biscuits and the meringue. Pour into the tin, cover with cling film and freeze for a few hrs until set. To serve, remove from the freezer 5 mins before scooping into balls.

PRALINE SEMI-FREDDO

Steps:

• Remove the seeds from the vanilla bean by scoring down the length and scraping the seeds out of each half.
• Whisk the vanilla seeds and sugar with the egg yolks in a large bowl until pale. In a second bowl whisk the cream until soft peaks form. (Important! Please don't overwhip it.) Then in the third bowl whisk or beat the egg whites with an electric mixer with a pinch of salt until they form very firm peaks (this is when you can pull the egg whites in any direction and they will stay like it).
• At this point add the praline, the cream and egg whites, to the egg yolk mixture. Gently fold in.
• Immediately scoop the contents into your chosen container. Cover wtih plastic wrap and freeze until you're ready to eat it.
• Roast the hazelnuts in the oven at 225C/425F/Gas 7 until golden (about 4 minutes). Really watch them, because if you over-roast them they go bitter and you can't use them.
• Put the sugar and water in a thick-bottomed pan and place on a medium to high heat. The mixture will start to bubble and then turn into a clear syrup.
• To begin with, it will gradually start to color in parts or from the sides. Gently and carefully shake the pan, just moving it to mix the patches of color.
• When it's all golden brown, carefully tip it away from you and gently add the nuts. Turn the heat down to a simmer and gently stir to coat the nuts in caramel.
• When the caramel is dark golden brown, turn it out on to a clean, lightly oiled tray, or on to greaseproof paper on a surface that won't burn. It will cool to a flattish solid sheet.
• When completely cooled (which takes about 20 minutes), smash it up roughly and pulse it in a food processor until the pieces are still quite chunky (very approximate size about 1/2 cm/ 1/4-inch).
• Remove about half the praline, then pulse the rest to a powder (or put it in a tea-towel and bash with a rolling-pin), and add both lots of praline to the semi-freddo mixture.

AMARETTI SEMIFREDDO

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350°F (175°C).
• Place chopped almonds on a tray and toast in preheated oven until lightly colored and fragrant, 5 to 8 minutes. Watch closely to prevent burning; if there is a strong odor of nuts in your kitchen, they'll be burnt by the time they cool. Let cool completely.
• Crumble the amaretti into 1/2 inch pieces by wrapping in a tea towel and tapping lightly with a rolling pin or mallet. Do not crush into small pieces. Place crumbled cookies in a medium bowl and sprinkle with rum. Toss with almonds and chocolate chips. Set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat cream with an electric mixer until thickened. Pour in brandy and beat until soft peaks form. Spoon whipped cream over cookie mixture. In same bowl, beat ice cream just until softened (with a flat whip, if available). Fold cookie and cream mixture into ice cream. Freeze until ready to serve.