Semifreddo, pumpkin-seed crunch and cognac

21 October 2014 - 02:01 By Sunday Times Food Weekly
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Semifreddo, pumpkin-seed crunch and cognac

Ingredients

  • 60g pumpkin seeds
  • 40g white sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 15ml (1 tbsp) cognac
  • 30ml (2 tbsp) pumpkin-seed oil
  • 200ml fresh cream

Method

Toast the pumpkin seeds in a dry pan until they crackle and change colour. Pour into a bowl. Put the white sugar in a heavy-based pan and let it melt without stirring. Once all crystals have dissolved and the sugar turns medium brown, stir in the pumpkin seeds with a wooden spoon until evenly coated with the caramel. Pour onto baking paper, spread in a thin layer, and leave to harden. Once cool, break into chunks, put in a bag and crush to a finer brittle with a rolling pin.

Mix the egg yolks, brown sugar, cognac and pumpkin oil in a metal bowl set over a pot of boiling water. Whisk until creamy. Set the bowl in ice-water and keep whisking until the mixture is cold and slightly thickened. Stir in about 80% of the pumpkin-seed brittle.

Beat the cream until stiff. Fold a third, and then the rest, into the egg mixture. Pour into 4 greased ramekins or 1 greased loaf tin and freeze for 4-8 hours. When ready to eat, soften in the fridge for 15 minutes, then slide a knife around the edges to loosen and turn out. Serve immediately, sprinkled with the remaining brittle.

Serves 4

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