Makes up to 10 servings

A few years ago my family and I were visiting Ville Franche, a lovely city built into a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean and very close to the Italian border.  After sunbathing, swimming in the sea and marveling at the snap shot Daniel was able to take of an octopus, with his GoPro, we set off to find food.  We settled on an Italian bistro on the boardwalk where we had a wonderful meal of fresh seafood linguini and pizza. The highlight was a caramel semifreddo with nougatine.  Happily, the chef  gave me his recipe although I added the whiskey and my own recipe for caramellized nuts.  I hope when you taste this semifreddo it will transport you to Ville Franche were you can smell the salt water and feel the sun on your face.

To make the Semifreddo I use a 5″ x 9″ loaf pan, lined with plastic wrap and cut slices from the frozen loaf. You can also forgo lining the pan with plastic wrap (which can produce wrinkles on the final product but they are not very visible because they are on the sides, so really, who cares) but then you’ll have to either dip the mold in hot water for 10 seconds or heat the sides with a blow torch to release the semifreddo from the mold. You can of course use any other mold you like. Silicone molds are nice because they release the semifreddo easily.

Semifreddo is best served slightly softened. By the time you cut the slices and finish plating them they will be at the right consistency.

A note about the use of glucose in this recipe.  If you can’t find glucose you can substitute light corn syrup but keep in mind that corn syrup is sweeter and has more water. The additional water might affect the texture.   Honey or Golden Syrup might be an interesting substitution for the glucose with the same caveat.  Glucose syrup has a neutral flavor and the lowest water content. It can be purchased on line.

This is one of those recipes you can play with. I think a pecan nougatine would be nice Instead of the hazelnuts. It might be fun to substitute some maple syrup for the glucose syrup and black walnuts for the hazelnuts. You can also substitute another spirit for the whiskey. Cognac or calvados or Couintreau.

Julie

Whiskey Caramel Semifreddo Components

Caramel Semifreddo
Caramelized Hazelnuts
Caramel sauce

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