Impress your friends and family with this make-ahead creamy and flavourful dessert.
Ingredients
- 300 g fresh cranberries
- 125 g caster sugar
- 1 orange
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) sugar
- 2 cups (500 mL) ricotta or mascarpone cheese
- 1 cup (250 mL) plain Greek-style yogurt
- 1 1/2 cups (375 mL) store-bought almond biscotti, coarsely chopped
- 2 Tbsp (30 mL) honey
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
- 2 egg whites (preferably pasteurized)
Instructions
- Place the cranberries in a small pan with 100ml cold water and bring to a boil. Simmer gently for 10 minutes until the berries soften and become pulpy.
- Stir in the sugar and continue to stir until it has dissolved. Simmer for 4-5 more minutes until the mixture has thickened, then remove from the heat and set aside to cool.
- Zest orange with a peeler and cut into thin strips. Squeeze out juice and reserve.
- Place zest in a saucepan, cover with water and bring to a boil. Drain zest and then put back in the saucepan with ⅓ cup (75 mL) water and the sugar. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes to candy the zest. Drain zest and reserve the syrup.
- In a large bowl, mix ricotta or mascarpone with yogurt and reserved orange juice.
- Add candied orange zest, biscotti, honey and hazelnuts. Mix together.
- In another bowl, beat egg whites with the reserved syrup until soft peaks form. Incorporate into cheese mixture.
- Spoon three quarters of the creamy mixture into a silicone loaf pan or a loaf pan lined with parchment paper then spread over the cooled cranberries.
- Top with the remaining creamy mixture, then use a skewer to swirl and marble the cranberry mixture through the creamy layer. Smooth the top with the back of a spoon.
- Place in the freezer for at least 4 hours before unmoulding.
- Let the semifreddo stand at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. This will help soften it before slicing to serve it “semi-frozen.”
- Serve slices of semifreddo with a drizzle of honey.
