Lemon Semifreddo with Ricotta & Fresh Mint Sauce

Semifreddo is an Italian, fluffy, light, semi frozen mousse dessert that just screams summer.

If you’ve never heard of semifreddo, this is going to be a luscious discovery.

It’s simple to make and requires no special equipment whatsoever.

Semi frozen, as the name “semifreddo” implies it’s essentially a frozen mousse.

It’s flavor falls in between mousse dessert and ice-cream.

But it’s much lighter than ice-cream.

A combination of creamy ricotta, sweet whipped cream with sweet & sour lemon edge it melts on your tongue very quickly.

Top it of with fresh mint sauce and it feels like heaven in your mouth.

If you think gelato is an ultimate summer dessert, this Lemon Semifreddo is a summer dessert to die for.

Full Recipe

Lemon Semifreddo with Ricotta & Fresh Mint Sauce

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Lemon Semifreddo is the lightest, semi-frozen dessert you can imagine! Its fluffy, mousse-like texture with lemon & mint flavor simply melts in your mouth.

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Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time5 minutes mins

Total Time25 minutes mins

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For Lemon Semifreddo:

• ▢ 2 lemons zest and juice
• ▢ 1 cup ricotta cheese drained
• ▢ 1 cup whipping cream 36% fat
• ▢ 1 cup sugar
• ▢ 4 gelatin sheets/leaves 10 g
• ▢ 3 eggs

For Mint Sauce:

• ▢ ¼ cup sugar
• ▢ ¼ cup water
• ▢ ½ cup fresh mint leaves

For Garnishing:

• ▢ Mint leaves
• ▢ 1 lemon sliced (optional)

Instructions

• Soak gelatin leaves in a cold water for 10 minutes.
• In the meantime, zest the lemons and separate egg yolks from the egg whites. Be careful not to break any egg yolks into the eggs whites! Beat egg yolks with ¼ sugar until smooth and creamy texture.
• In a separate bowl, beat freshly squeezed lemon juice from zested lemons with well drained ricotta cheese.
• Use ¼ cup of whipping cream, add drained and squeezed from the water gelatin leaves. Simmer on a low heat until gelatin leaves are completely dissolved.
• Add cream gelatin mixture to the egg yolks. Mix in lemon ricotta, whisk well until all ingredients are well mixed together.
• In 2 separate bowls beat well chilled whipping cream and egg whites with the remaining ¾ cup sugar you have left. Beat both until stiff peaks.
• Add freshly made whipped cream to the egg yolk ricotta mix. Whisk well.
• As the last step, gently fold in the egg whites, a few spoons at a time.
• Pour your “soon-to-be semifreddo” into a large rectangular bakeware or tin, suitable for the freezer. Level semifreddo nicely and place in the freezer for 6-7 hrs.
• For the Mint Sauce, bring water, sugar and mint leaves to boil. Simmer for a few minutes until the sauce is reduced and becomes a bit thicker.
• After semifreddo is well chilled in the freezer, garnish it with thin lemon slices, pour over the mint sauce and top with a few mint leaves.

Notes

Tip: Leave semifreddo at room temperature for 15 minutes before cutting and serving.

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Have you ever tried Semifreddo? Isn’t it a summer perfection on a plate!

As always, would love to read you thoughts.

Ciao 🙂