Simple Italy

Celebrating Your Inner Italian

Peach Sorbetto

Posted by Leave a Comment

peach sorbettoFarm to table sounds so simple, doesn’t it?

Take the peach sorbetto pictured above. It started at an orchard and ended up on my table.

I bought perfect peaches from Hausman’s Fruit Farm at the Emmaus Farmers’ Market on a recent fine Sunday morning. I froze a tray of peeled and sliced ripe fruit (click here for directions) then pureed the frozen slices in a food processor with simple syrup and lemon juice.

Easy peasey. And easily, the best peach sorbetto ever.

But to make those peaches, ah, not so easy.

For the peach grower, patience, skill, and luck are essential.

Patience is needed to nurture the tree for three to four years before it can produce blossoms that grow into fruit.

Skill is needed in feeding the tree, watering the tree, protecting the tree from pests and diseases, and harvesting the delicate fruit.

Luck is needed when Nature’s dealing out her early frosts, hail storms, wind gusts, and droughts.

As a fortunate peach eater, I thank the farmers for making it so (seem) easy to make this divine peach sorbetto.

Peach Sorbetto
Print
Recipe type: dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Author:
Serves: 2 cups
This frosty fruit sorbet is guaranteed to take the steam heat out of August.
Ingredients
  • 1 pound frozen, peeled sliced peaches
  • 6 tablespoons cold simple syrup (see Note)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Remove the peaches from the freezer and allow to sit for 10 minutes. Place in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse to chop coarsely.
  2. Run the machine, scraping down the sides of the bowl, for about 3 minutes, adding the syrup and lemon juice through the feed tube. Process until the mixture is smooth.
  3. Serve right away or ripen in the freezer for 30 minutes.
  4. Note: Make simple syrup by boiling 1 cup water with 1 cup granulated sugar until sugar is dissolved. Cool and transfer to a jar. Store in the refrigerator.

 

Southern Italian Desserts

Posted by 5 Comments

Crostata al Gelo di Mellone (watermelon pudding tart) from Sicily graces the book's cover.

Crostata al Gelo di Mellone (watermelon pudding tart) from Sicily graces the cover.

I don’t know why Rosetta Costantino’s family emigrated from the small southern Italian hill town of Verbicaro to the San Francisco Bay Area when she was 14. But I am grateful they did.

Had Costantino remained in her native Calabria, I doubt I would be salivating over her new book Southern Italian Desserts. Written with Jennie Schacht, it is a meticulously researched cultural accounting. The book includes 76 recipes for traditional sweets from the regions of Calabria, Campania, Basilicata, Puglia, and Sicily. Some of the pastries, such as Cannoli, are familiar to English-speaking bakers but many, such as Biscotti di Ceglie (almond cookies filled with cherry preserves), are revelations.

With photography by Sara Remington and Ten Speed Press’s signature high-quality production values, the volume is as visually appealing as its recipes are alluring.(Ten Speed also published Costantino’s first book My Calabria.)

[Read more…]

Coffee Semifreddo

Posted by 2 Comments

Bold and bracing, a coffee semifreddo slices through summer humidity.

Bold and bracing, a coffee semifreddo slices through summer humidity.

If the Lemon Semifreddo in the previous post can be characterized as angelic, this Coffee Semifreddo is the devilish counterpart. It is the sweet weapon of choice when you want to go full throttle against the torpor of summer weather.

 

Coffee Semifreddo
Print
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Author:
Serves: 8
The USDA recommends that, due to possible danger from Salmonella contamination, pasteurized in-shell eggs should be used for any recipe calling for uncooked or undercooked eggs.
Ingredients
  • 3 large eggs, separated (see note above)
  • ¾ cup confectioners’ sugar, divided
  • ½ cup brewed espresso or very strong coffee
  • 1½ teaspoons vanilla extract or brandy
  • Pinch of salt
  • ¾ cup heavy or whipping cream
  • Cocoa powder, chocolate curls, or chocolate-covered coffee beans
Instructions
  1. Line a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with plastic wrap so excess hangs over the sides. Set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan, combine the egg yolks and ¼ cup sugar. With a flat-bottom whisk, stir until well combined. Stir in the espresso or coffee. Set over medium-high heat and cook, whisking constantly, until thickened, about 5 minutes. Remove the pan and set it in a larger container filled with ice water; whisk occasionally until cool about 15 minutes. Stir in the vanilla or brandy.
  3. Combine the egg whites and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat on medium speed until whites look foamy. Continue beating while gradually adding ¼ cup sugar, until stiff peaks form.
  4. In another mixing bowl, using the same beater, beat the cream with a mixer at high speed, adding the remaining ¼ cup sugar half way through, until doubled in volume.
  5. Fold the egg-white mixture into coffee mixture then gently fold in whipped cream. Pour and spread into the prepared pan. Bring the extra plastic wrap over the top to cover the semifreddo. Place in the freezer at least 12 hours or up to 3 days.
  6. To unmold, remove top plastic wrap. Set aside for about 10 minutes. Place the pan over a serving platter, and turn the semifreddo out of the pan. Slice with a sharp knife.
  7. Dust with cocoa powder or garnish with chocolate curls or chocolate-covered coffee beans.

 

Click here for information about egg cooking safety.

Click here for information about pasteurized in-shell eggs.

 

Semifreddo for Summer

Posted by 2 Comments

Lush lemon semifreddo is the next best thing to being in Amalfi.

Lush lemon semifreddo is the next best thing to being in Amalfi.

 

Semifreddo translates as “half frozen.”

But its literal moniker underplays the lush nature of this Italian spoon dessert.

I’d rather call it Fresco Com’una Nuvola–“Cool as a Cloud.”

Sort of a cross between a frozen soufflé and gelato, a semifreddo delivers the plush mouthfeel of frozen meringue with the luxurious richness of cream.

Why is semifreddo so dreamy? Because air is whipped into the egg whites and the cream prior to freezing. Gelato, on the other hand, is denser because air is whipped into the gelato base as it freezes. So, semifreddo results in a softer, more sensual sweet.

Semifreddo is so right for summer. It can be prepared hours or days in advance. Berries and peaches are its seasonal friends.

Italians like to play around with textural contrasts and frequently add layers of crumbled crisp cookies or chopped nuts between layers of semifreddo. Sauces are also a fun option. Caramel sauce with lemon or coffee. Chocolate  sauce with raspberry or strawberry. You get the idea.

Make a semifreddo soon and you’ll be on nuvola numero nove.

Click here for information about egg cooking safety.

Lemon Semifreddo
Print
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Italian
Author:
Serves: 8
The USDA recommends that, due to possible danger from Salmonella contamination, pasteurized in-shell eggs should be used for any recipe calling for uncooked or undercooked eggs.
Ingredients
  • ½ tablespoon butter, at room temperature
  • ½ cup granulated sugar plus sugar for coating the dish
  • 1½ tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
  • 6 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1 egg, beaten (see note above)
  • 2 cups heavy or whipping cream
  • ¼ cup confectioners' sugar
  • 1 pint raspberries
Instructions
  1. Coat the inside of a 6-cup soufflé dish or other casserole with butter. Coat with granulated sugar. Set aside.
  2. In a medium saucepan, whisk ½ cup granulated sugar with cornstarch until blended. Add the lemon zest, lemon juice, and egg. Whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, for about 5 minutes until mixture thickens. Remove from the heat and whisk briskly. Set aside to cool, whisking occasionally.
  3. In the large bowl of an electric mixer, whip the cream until soft peaks form. Gradually add the confectioners' sugar. Whip until peaks hold their shape. Fold one-third of the cream into the lemon mixture. Fold the lemon mixture into the remaining cream. Spoon into the prepared dish. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Place in the freezer for 12 hours or up to 3 days.
  4. To serve, remove the semifreddo from the freezer and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Scoop onto dessert dishes. Serve with the raspberries.

Next time: Coffee Semifreddo