This past week I’ve had the joy of two friends stay with me. My friend Noemi came from the States and her sister Elizabeth all the way from Devon. 😉 I know I am starting to think like a British person because a 4 hour train ride from the other side of the country seems like a long journey!
Noemi is one of the most enthusiastic and fun-loving people and is a huge anglophile! She wouldn’t stop talking about “seeing castles” the entire time she was here and the first day we were having barbecue she bought black pudding to grill instead of a burger.
Funnily enough, none of us living in Britain, that is the remaining 10 guests, were willing to touch the stuff.
After living in this beautiful country for a while one begins to lose the sense of wonder of how truly beautiful England is so having my friend here allowed me to see it through her eyes and fall in love once again with all things British.
Noemi’s zest for life is truly contagious, her unstoppable desire to try new things always inspires and amazes me. Food….no…delicious food is definitely at the top of her list.
Elizabeth and I were set to provide a truly British experience and since the weather was uncharacteristically lovely we went for a picnic. Noemi being an über talented photographer took a million photos, so stay tuned for a British picnic inspiration.
No dessert is more British than Eton Mess; a mixture of whipped cream, strawberries and broken meringue pieces. It’s traditionally served at the annual Eton College cricket game and is a true classic.
As soon as we started planning our picnic I knew Eton Mess should crown the meal. However, 3 girls talking incessantly over many cups of tea leaves little time for cooking so my good intentions never came to be.
My friends left but the idea stuck around and a couple of days later I finally got to make it. The dessert itself went through 3 different stages in the process-from being a traditional pudding served in a glass to briefly being made into an ice cream and eventually morphed into semifreddo.
That’s just how my creative process goes. I can’t help it!
What is semifreddo?
Semifreddo is Italian for half-cold and, essentially, has a texture of frozen mousse. At this point you are probably thinking, mousse sounds hard but don’t give up on me yet.
This dessert consists of 4 ingredients and takes 15 minutes to whip together plus time in the freezer. This British dessert is creamy, silky, studded with fresh strawberries and broken meringue, which after sitting in cream overnight takes on a pleasant marshmallow-y texture.
Besides, it’s incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day.
All you have to do is to whip cream with sweet and condensed milk, then fold in chopped strawberries and broken meringue and freeze it!
After a night in the freezer, un-mould it and WOW your friends and family. A stunning dessert that took you no time to make! Just slice it as you would a good ice cream cake and serve with more strawberries!
Ingredients
- 500ml/2 cups whipping cream/double cream
- 397g/14 oz sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 150g/5 oz fresh strawberries
- 4 meringue nest ready made, broken into small pieces
- Strawberry coulis optional
Instructions
- In a large bowl combine whipping cream and sweet and condensed milk with good quality vanilla.
- Whip until soft peaks form, don't over-beat, we are not looking for a whipped cream here.
- Chop strawberries finely or quickly pulse them in the food processor, drain the juice.
- Crumble store bought meringue with your hands or use a rolling pin.
- Gently fold strawberries into the cream mixture, then add broken meringue.
- Line a loaf pan with a cling film or aluminium foil with the ends over-hanging for easy un-moulding and fill it with the cream mixture.
- Bring the cling film ends over to cover the top of the semifreddo, then wrap the whole pan in double layer of aluminium foil.
- Freeze over night. For easy un-moulding, let your semifreddo sit on your countertop for a few minutes, then put your serving dish on top of the loaf pan and quickly turn it over, peel the cling film off and top with additional strawberries.
- You may drizzle it with some strawberry coulis, jam or sauce for extra drama.
Trish says
I found mixing the whip cream and sweetened condensed milk together it just stayed a liquid. Even after 10 minutes of whipping. Try forming soft peaks with whip cream and vanilla first and then fold in sweetened condensed milk
I had to dump my first batch down the sink as it never thickened trying to mix together.
Julia Frey (Vikalinka) says
Hi Trish, no need throwing anything out, you can just mix the two without whipping and it would still turn into ice cream. I assume the issue comes from the fat content of the whipping cream as they are different in the UK and US.
andrea says
In Chile, we have a traditional frosted raspberry meringue cake, which tastes very much like a frozen Eton mess. I like the idea of turning it as a semifreddo.
vikalinka says
I hope you try it, Andrea!
Carol says
I have made this a couple of times now. Yummy!!! Couple of comments:
1. Make sure you keep in freezer overnight. Made it as a birthday cake in the morning to use in evening but was still runny when I served. Guests didn’t care, the devoured it, but glad if was only son and family.
2. Second try and I used a shop brand sweetened condensed milk and it wasn’t quite the same(it was frozen right through this time) but still didn’t last long in our house.
Thank you for a really quick, delicious recipe. Yummy!
vikalinka says
Thank you so much for your feedback, Carol!
Lody says
Hi Vikalinka,
Thanks for you fast reply.
I’ve got an other question.
Ik notice that there are water ice cristals forming when I use strawberry coulis or whole strawberries Is there a way to prevent this or am I doing something wrong?
vikalinka says
I think that’s a pretty normal side effect of freezing. Nothing to do about it, unfortunately.
Lody says
Hoe long can I keep this good in the freezer?
vikalinka says
Hi Lody. It will keep in the freezer for at least one week. It won’t go off after that but it might not taste the best.
Yuliya Smead says
How big are the meringues?
vikalinka says
They are about 3″ in diameter, Yulia.
jayne says
Its in the freezer.
Hoping itll be set enough for tea with friends….8 hours?
vikalinka says
I hope you and your friends enjoyed it!!
Victoriya says
For the recipe its said whipping cream is it the premade frozen whipping cream like (cool whip) or whipping cream that looks like heavy whip and you beat it?
vikalinka says
Whipping cream or double cream is what heavy cream is called in England. It’s not pre-made, you have to whip it yourself as the recipe outlines.
Jen says
This recipe is superb! I’ve made it a few times now and it’s always a hit.
The kids love it with marshmallows added as an extra twist.
vikalinka says
Thank you so much for sharing, Jen! I am so excited to hear your family loves it.
Marina of Let the Baking Begin! says
I’ve never had semifredo before, but yours looks soo so good!
vikalinka says
Thank you, Marina! Semifreddo is just a fancy word for easy ice-cream!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
So pretty, I love those strawberries!
Crystal | Apples & Sparkle says
Yum! This sounds so good for a warm evening! And those strawberries are beautiful!