2000s Recipes + Menus

Cantaloupe Grappa Semifreddo

Serves6 to 8
  • Active time:25 min
  • Start to finish:6 hr
August 2009
A semifreddo is an Italian soft-frozen custard mousse. Grappa, which is floral and just a little edgy, bumps the musky, intoxicating sweetness of the melon up a notch.
  • 1 lb peeled and chopped cantaloupe (about 2 1/2 cups)
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 Tbsp sugar, divided
  • 1/4 cup grappa (preferably grappa di Moscato d’Asti)
  • 3/4 teaspoon grenadine (for color; optional)
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 3/4 cup heavy cream
  • Equipment:

    a 9- by 5- by 3-inch loaf pan; 2 large (6-qt) bowls (one of them metal); a handheld electric mixer
  • Line loaf with plastic wrap, leaving an overhang at each end.
  • Purée melon with 1/3 cup sugar, grappa, grenadine (if using), and salt in a blender until smooth. Transfer to large metal bowl and stir in yolks. Set bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and beat with mixer until pale, thick, and tripled in volume and registers 170°F on an instant-read thermometer, about 8 minutes.
  • Remove bowl from saucepan and set in a large ice bath. Continue to beat until cold, about 6 minutes.
  • Beat cream with remaining 2 Tbsp sugar in other large bowl using cleaned beaters until it just holds soft peaks. Fold whipped cream into cantaloupe mixture gently but thoroughly.
  • Pour mixture into pan and freeze, loosely covered with plastic wrap, until firm, at least 5 hours.
  • Uncover top and invert semifreddo onto a plate.
Cooks’ note: Semifreddo keeps 1 week.
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