Christmas Cookalong Part One – Dark Chocolate and Hazelnut Semi Freddo

Well the first Friday of December has been and gone and that means only one thing – the Irish Foodies monthly cookalong.  This month’s theme was of course Christmas (well how could it be anything else?) and rather than cook an elaborate dinner, I decided to do a dessert and a bit of baking instead.

So the first recipe I decided on for the cookalong was Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo from Rachel Allen’s Home Cooking book.  Although (technically) its not actually cooking, this is one of the desserts I made last year to follow Christmas dinner.  Instead of freezing in a loaf tin as suggested, I lined a pudding bowl to give it a more Christmassy shape.

I was lucky to get the picture above as about 5 seconds after it was taken, child#2 somehow managed to knock the plate off the table sending it crashing to the floor!

Dark Chocolate & Hazelnut Semi Freddo

What you need:

3 eggs, separated

150g caster sugar

500ml cream

100g dark chocolate finely chopped

100g chopped hazelnuts

What you do:

• Line the base of a loaf tin with parchment or cling film, leaving the excess hanging out over the edges.
• Whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until pale and fluffy.
• In a second bowl, whip the cream until it forms soft peaks.
• Finally, in another (spotlessly clean) bowl, whisk the egg whites (with a clean whisk) until they form firm peaks.
• Gently fold the whipped cream into the egg yolk mixture then carefully fold in the egg whites.
• Sprinkle a third of the chopped chocolate & hazelnuts evenly into the base of the prepared tin.  Pour half of the semifreddo mixture over the chocolate, followed by the next third of the chocolate.  Finally, pour over the remaining semifreddo and top with the remaining chocolate. Cover with the excess hanging parchment or cling film and freeze for at least 6 hours until solid.
• Once it is set, carefully remove the semifreddo from the tin by turning upside down onto a plate and remove the parchment/clingfilm and cut into slices.