Pastry chefs send summer out with semifreddo

Summer may be ending soon, but the season of semifreddo continues on at many restaurants throughout the states. With flavors such as toasted marshmallow, cream cheese, corn and pistachio, no two desserts are alike.

"I think semifreddo is really versatile," said Rachel Rathgeb, pastry chef for Husk in Nashville. "You can add flavors to it, like a little vanilla extract, a little mint, or pair any fruit or caramel sauce."

Rathgeb's version of the dessert is her $13 cream cheese semifreddo, which was inspired by Tennessee’s peach season. She wanted to use the fresh fruit and thought of doing a version of peaches and cream. But instead of leaning to the sweet side, she decided to give it a slight tangy twist with cream cheese. Plus, she added, in the South cream cheese gets used in many desserts, so it felt appropriate.

The semifreddo at Coltivare in Houston with corn, berries, and basil

One reason Rathgeb thinks semifreddo is having a moment is because it's fairly easy to make, and the flavors are endless. The classic Italian dessert starts with three basic ingredients: egg yolks, sugar, and cream. It can be molded into a loaf pan for slicing, placed into individual molds, and even scooped out like ice cream. After that, it's up to the chefs to decide what accoutrements they want to highlight.

For example, at Osteria Olio in Athens, Ga., there's a chocolate hazelnut version on the menu for $14. The hazelnut is in the shortbread at the bottom of the dish. It’s topped by a layer of aerated 65% Republica del Cacao chocolate and a marshmallow cylinder to make a cool and pleasing combination. At Pendolino in Atlanta, the featured dessert is a $9 spumoni semifreddo, which showcases flavors from a classic Italian spumoni including cherry, vanilla, and pistachio.

On the less traditional end, chef Thu Nguyen of  Coltivare in Houston adds yellow dent corn from the restaurant's garden to her semifreddo. To make the dish, the chef roasts and dries the fresh corn, combining it into a soft-serve style of homemade ice cream. She freezes the dessert into disks, and adds blackberries from the restaurant's own bushes, and candied corn she also made.

"Most reactions are, 'this is different' and 'I would never think somebody would make this'." said Nguyen, who likes to bring out Asian flavors in her desserts. "You go to Asia, you have sweet corn dessert, and while you would never think about having corn ice cream, people try it and love it."

Yuzu semifreddo at Oak Steakhouse in Nashville.

Because many of the ingredients come from Coltivare's own garden, she is able to keep the overhead low: Each dessert costs the restaurant $1.58 and they sell for around $12, a food cost of around 13%. 

Oak Steakhouse  in Nashville also gives an Asian bent to semifreddo by using yuzu. The Japanese citrus plays well with the frozen Italian dessert. The $15 dish also includes coconut cremeux, candied lime zest, and Biscoff cookie. Oak Steakhouse has seven locations, but the dessert menu remains unique to each restaurant.

Semifreddos are fairly easy desserts to prepare, and given their versatility they can adapt to most menus and keep guests satisfied with frequently changing preparations.