Raspberry & Chocolate Ripple Semifreddo

This delicious recipe serves 10 and takes a bit of work, but it is well worth it. One nice thing about it is that it can be made a couple of days ahead of time. It is a nice, different dessert to add to an Italian meal.

The recipe below started with a recipe I found at http://www.bakersroyale.com/raspberry-and-chocolate-ripple-semifreddo/ I changed it by adding a couple of ingredients that I use in a Frances Mayes semifreddo that I love and have described in a previous post. I also added instructions and changed some instructions, on the basis of my own experience and the additional ingredients. 

The ingredients I added to the original recipe were Mascarpone cheese, milk, and additional raspberries.

Semifreddo is a type of soft Italian ice cream. The name means, "half cold."

Ingredients

- 4 oz. dark chocolate morsels
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 12 oz. raspberries - 8 oz. for puree and 4 oz. of whole raspberries to top when serving. (Raspberries at our Publix come in 6 oz. containers.)
- 2 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 1/2 cup of Mascarpone cheese
- 1/4 cup whole milk
- 1 & 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1 & 1/2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or vanilla exract

Directions

1. Line a 9" x 5" loaf pan or dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 2" overhang on each side. The purpose of the plastic wrap is to allow you to easily remove the frozen semifreddo from the pan.

2. Place chocolate and butter in a bowl over a pot of simmering water and stir until melted and everything is combined. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Place 8 oz. raspberries and 2 tablespoons of sugar in a blender or food processor, and pulse until pureed. When the puree is finished, push it through a sieve into a bowl. This will remove the raspberry seeds from the puree. Scrape the bottom of the sieve with a small spoon to get additional puree into the bowl. Set aside.

4. This next step is one that requires a bit of care to avoid cooking the eggs. Place eggs, egg yolk, milk, and remaining sugar in a bowl set over a pot of barely simmering water. Using a hand mixer, beat the mixture for 10-15 minutes until it is pale or thick, or until the mixture thickens and forms trailing ribbons. Then remove from the heat and either cool the mixture by placing the bowl in an ice bath or continue stirring for 4-5 minutes to let the mixture cool. (When I was stirring the mixture over the simmering water, it only thickened slightly after about 15 minutes. This may have been due to my adding the milk.) If you see the slightest sign that the eggs are starting to harden and cook when stirring over the simmering water, immediately remove from the heat and keep stirring. After a minute or two, place the bowl back over the simmering water, and stir until mixture thickens. 

5. When the egg mixture is finished, let it cook in the refrigerator for about an hour and a half. When the mixture has cooled, stir in the Mascarpone cheese.

6. Place the heavy cream in a mixing bowl and use a mixer to mix it until it thickens and soft peaks form. Then add the vanilla and mix to combine. (Alternatively, you can use a hand mixer to whip the cream.) 

7. Now use a spatula to fold the egg-Mascarpone and the whipped cream mixtures together.

To Assemble

Pour a 1/2 cup or more of the semifreddo mixture into the loaf pan, and spoon stripes of raspberry puree and chocolate on top. Continue to layer until all the ingredients are combined. (I reserved a bit of the puree to spoon on top of each serving at serving time.)

Place in the freezer for 4-6 hours or until set.

When ready to serve, turn the loaf pan upside down over a cutting board, and remove the semifreddo. Slice, and top with puree and fresh raspberries.