Coffee Zabaglione Semifreddo with a Coffee Syrup

Coffee Zabaglione Semifreddo with a Coffee Syrup

Ingredients:

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1/2 c granulated sugar

• 1.5 c heavy cream

• Instant espresso

• 1 t vanilla extract

• 1 c. lady fingers, crushed
  

Syrup:

• 1/2 c. water

• 1/2 c. granulated sugar

• 2 T instant coffee

• 2 T Kahula, coffee liqueur

Separate your eggs.
Set up your double boiler.
Prepare a loaf pan by lining it with saran wrap. Placed crushed cookies in the bottom of the pan.

Over the double boiler, whisk 5 egg yolks with the sugar and instant espresso. Stir until thick.
In the meantime, whip your heavy cream with a mixer.

Once your egg yolks have thickened, remove from heat and gradually fold in the cream. Once combined, pour mixture into the prepared pan. Let freeze over night.

Make the syrup: Add sugar, water, instant espresso, and kahlua together in a pot. Cook for 10-15 minutes. Set aside.

When ready to serve, take the pan out of the freezer and let sit for 10 minutes. Flip the pan over onto a serving platter and slice into individual portions. Drizzle your syrup over the top.

The Story...

This was really yummy and not at all what I expected.

Custards scare me because they seem complicated. The precision alone required for making desserts is a deterrent. But, the more I make things with custards, the more accessible it feels. I wish I could point you towards a recipe, but when I made this, I ended up reading 3 or 4 recipes, plus I asked chatGPT. What ended up happening is some sort of combination of the two and I'm afraid I took no notes. Reading the original menu for the Conclave Dinner, I think I was supposed to make the coffee separately, except that somewhere along the line, I added the instant coffee to the custard. It was a happy accident but definitely not what I was "supposed" to do. Luckily it turned out well. No Complaints.

If I ever make this again, I could live without the cookies in the loaf pan. They were good but in the freezing process ended up being kind of mushy. I might use them as a garnish in the future.