Nutty Irishman Semifreddo (Ice Cream!)

Ok, so this really has nothing to do with herbs, but I make a lot of other types of food, and this is my blog, so I figure I can randomly post about awesome things I make. Let me tell you about how this most delicious of semi-frozen treats was created.

Isn't it beautiful? My new favorite ice cream surrounded by my favorite coffee beans, it's absolutely mouth-watering (at least for me!).

The Story:
I went to the Mohegan Sun a couple weeks ago with my brother, Mark, and my cousin, Jenna. While we were at the free Soul Asylum concert, we decided to be fancy and order Nutty Irishmen. It turns out that this is one of the best creations in the entire world. We all fell in love with it. Luckily, we knew we were coming back the next weekend to see Sponge.

The Nutty Irishman is just Frangelico, Bailey's, and hot coffee topped with whipped cream. It is heavenly and warming.

Back to the unnecessarily long story. During the week in between concerts, Mark and I craved it too much and just decided to buy Frangelico and Bailey's and make it ourselves. It was pure genius. Also, I learned that a little drop of Frangelico into whipped cream makes it a gazillion times more tasty.

So we went back, had it again, loved it. Last weekend I decided to make a Citrus Semifreddo from Giada De Laurentiis' book Giada's Kitchen. It was crazy easy to make, and so good that my whole family has been craving it since we first tried it last night. It's hard to hold back from eating the whole thing.

Today, my brother and I were discussing other flavors we could make. He had the brilliant idea of trying to make a Nutty Irishman Semifreddo! So i looked at a bunch of recipes, realized they all have very similar measurements and very easy parts that I could substitute for the flavors I wanted. We made it. It is the smoothest, creamiest, coffee, hazelnut, beautiful, magic, indescribable-yet-I'm-still-going-to-try-to-describe-it kind of flavor. And it isn't even done yet. I know the flavor is good, but I'm waiting to see how well it freezes. I was so excited that I had to type this before it was even finished being made!

Update: It has finished freezing and it is just as perfect tasting as I thought! I apparently didn't fully incorporate the whipped cream, but I think it makes it look pretty and it still tastes bangin' so it's all good.

 Printer Version

Ingredients:

4 ounces graham crackers
3 Tbsp unsalted butter                                               
3/4 cup sugar
8 egg yolks
1/3 cup chilled strong coffee
1/2 Tbsp Bailey's
1 1/2 Tbsp Frangelico
Pinch of salt
1 cup heavy cream

Grease a 9x5 metal pan, line it with plastic wrap with extra hanging over the sides, and grease again.

Set a pot to simmer with about an inch of water, making sure that your large metal mixing bowl will not touch the water.

Process graham crackers in food processor until powdery. Melt butter, stir with graham crackers until crumbly. Press into bottom of pan and refrigerate.

Prepare an ice bath in a wide bowl, bigger than your large metal mixing bowl. Set aside.

In the metal mixing bowl, mix 1/2 cup of the sugar, egg yolks, coffee, salt, Bailey's and Frangelico. Put bowl over the simmering water, checking to make sure the water doesn't reach the bowl, and whisk until mixture is thick and creamy, about 10 minutes. Place bowl into ice bath to stop cooking and cool it down.

In another large bowl, blend the heavy cream and 1/4 of sugar with an electric mixer until firm peaks are formed.

Gently fold whipped cream into egg mixture. Pour into metal tin and fold plastic wrap over the top. Freeze for at least 8 hours before serving.