Make the Bread, Buy the Butter - Jennifer Reese [86]
Makes 2 cups
ESPRESSO AND MASCARPONE SEMIFREDDO
This world-beating dessert comes from Lynne Rossetto Kasper’s Splendid Table, a splendid cookbook full of opulent dishes from the Italian region of Emilia Romagna that I like to read recipes for, even if I never cook them. The only changes I’ve made to this recipe are to replace the rum with bourbon, and to change the garnish from shaved chocolate to chopped toasted hazelnuts. This semifreddo is a little like tiramisu, without the soggy sponge cake. It’s an ideal dessert for parties because you can make it a few days ahead. Actually you must make it ahead.
CUSTARD
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
4 large egg yolks
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons bourbon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 pound mascarpone
¼ cup heavy cream
MERINGUE
4 large egg whites, at room temperature
¾ cup sugar
¼ cup water
GARNISH
1 cup hazelnuts, toasted and chopped
1. Pour the instant espresso granules into a glass measuring cup and add enough boiling water to make ⅓ cup. Stir to dissolve. Let cool.
2. In a large bowl—metal or glass—whisk together the coffee, yolks, sugar, bourbon, and vanilla. Put the bowl over a pan of boiling water and whisk for a few minutes until thick. The mixture should reach 165 degrees F on a thermometer. Scrape it into a smaller bowl, cool to room temperature, cover, and chill in the refrigerator for 4 to 6 hours.
3. When the custard is cold, make the meringue. Place the egg whites in the bowl of an electric mixer. Pour the sugar and the water into a small saucepan and set over medium heat. Cook until the sugar has just melted and the syrup is clear. Turn the heat to high and put a thermometer in the pan. When the syrup is at about 240 degrees F, turn on the mixer and beat the egg whites until they are moist, just starting to stiffen—you don’t want them dull or clumping. When the syrup reaches 250 degrees F, start pouring the syrup very slowly into the mixer as you beat. Turn the beater to medium and continue mixing until the bowl cools to room temperature.
4. As the egg whites are beating and cooling, in a small bowl mix the mascarpone and the heavy cream. Fold this into the cold custard.
5. As soon as the meringue is cool, fold that, too, lightly into the custard. You don’t want the semifreddo homogeneous—some streaks of meringue add interest. Scoop the mixture into a storage container, cover tightly, and freeze.
6. Three hours before you plan to eat, move the semifreddo to the refrigerator. Serve in individual dishes, topped with the chopped hazelnuts.
Serves 12
MOZZARELLA
You can make most cheeses—Camembert, cheddar, Gouda—with generic supermarket milk. Not mozzarella. To make mozzarella, you need minimally processed milk. Local organic unhomogenized (i.e., expensive) milk is your best bet. This isn’t a gratuitous “local and organic is always better” lecture. If you use ordinary supermarket milk, your mozzarella may not set and you will have to pour it down the drain. This happened to me and it could put you off mozzarella making forever.
And that would be sad. There are few more thrilling kitchen moments than when you hold in the palm of your hand a ball of homemade mozzarella, tender, springy, and still a bit warm. This recipe comes from Ricki Carroll, founder of the New England Cheesemaking Supply Company, a peerless source of ingredients and information.
Make it or buy it? At least try it once.
Hassle: It’s no picnic, all that stretching and pulling and hot whey sloshing around.
Cost comparison: If you have a good source for the proper milk (like a couple of goats) this is a bargain. But the