Honey Semifreddo with Raspberries and Pistachios

Photo by Linda Campos / Styled by Catrine Kelty

Semifreddo is a classic Italian dessert that translates to “half cold.” It’s like ice cream that fell through a cloud on its way to your plate. Lucky for us, it doesn’t require any churning or special equipment. Sweetened eggs and cream are whipped into an ethereal mousse, poured into a lined loaf pan and frozen. In this rendition, deeply flavored honey is the backdrop for raspberries and pistachios. Since it’s being frozen, I recommend using frozen berries in the mousse—they are economical and reliably good. They will also help to keep the mixture cold as you quickly work to get it into the freezer. Save your special farmers market berries to garnish the sliced loaf. The semifreddo can be made and kept frozen for up to two weeks.

Serves 8

1½ cups heavy cream
5 eggs
½ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
¼ cup honey, plus more for serving
grated zest of 1 lemon
1 cup frozen raspberries
¾ cup shelled, unsalted pistachios, coarsely chopped
1 cup fresh raspberries, for serving

Line a 9-inch loaf pan with one large piece of plastic wrap that hangs over the edges. Place the pan in the freezer.

Whip the cream until stiff peaks form; refrigerate while you prepare the egg mixture.

Fill a medium pot with about 2 inches of water and bring to a simmer. In the bowl of a stand mixer, or a large bowl that fits over the pot without touching the water, whisk together the eggs, sugar and salt. Keep whisking the mixture over the barely simmering water for 2–3 minutes. The eggs should be hot to the touch and the sugar dissolved.

Transfer the bowl to the stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment (or whisk by hand or with a handheld electric beater). Add the honey and beat on high for 2–3 minutes, or until the eggs are pale, fluffy, doubled in volume and the mixture feels completely cool. Stir in the lemon zest.

Gently stir in ⅓ of the whipped cream. With a rubber spatula, fold in the frozen raspberries, pistachios and the rest of the whipped cream. Scrape the mixture into the chilled, lined loaf pan. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.

Invert the frozen loaf onto a platter or board and peel away the plastic wrap. Slice and serve on chilled plates with the fresh raspberries and more honey.

This recipe appeared in the Summer 2024 issue as part of a larger story on Honey.