Recipe: Coffee Semifreddo

COFFEE SEMIFREDDO

"Semifreddo means half-chilled in Italian. This lovely dessert multiplies readily and stores well in the freezer. It is customarily served just slightly melting."

4 eggs
1 cup confectioner's sugar
2 tablespoons milk
4 tablespoons butter
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
confectioner's sugar (for dusting)
3 tablespoons rum
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 pint coffee ice cream, softened
chocolate fudge sauce (to serve)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line an 11- by 17- by 1-inch baking pan with parchment paper (or butter and flour pan).

In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, place milk and butter and heat until butter is melted. Remove from heat and cool until tepid.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and confectioners' sugar together with a wire whisk until mixture is pale yellow and thickened to consistency of mayonnaise.

Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold flour mixture into eggs.

Scoop 1 cup batter into a small mixing bowl and whisk together with milk-butter mixture. Fold mixture into batter. This will enable the heavy milk-butter mixture to be easily and completely folded into the light, airy batter without deflating it. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Bake until cake is pale golden brown and dry on top, and springs back when gently pressed with finger (20 to 22 minutes). Cool 2 to 3 minutes in pan. Loosen edges of cake from pan with a small knife. Dust a tea towel with confectioners' sugar. Invert cake onto sugar-dusted towel; carefully peel away parchment paper from cake roll. Cool completely.

TO ASSEMBLE SEMIFREDDO:
Cut sponge cake roll into 3 equal rectangles, each 5-1/4 inches by 11 inches. Sprinkle cake layers with rum; dust with some of the cocoa.

Place one cake layer on a serving tray. Cover with about 1 cup softened ice cream. Top with a second layer and cover with 1 cup more ice cream; cover with third layer and freeze.

Twenty minutes before serving, remove cake from freezer and let rest at room temperature. Dust with remaining cocoa. Slice about 1 inch thick and place each slice on a chilled dessert plate. Drizzle with Chocolate Fudge Sauce. Serve immediately.

Servings: 10
Adapted from source: the California Culinary Academy