This our Strawberry Shortbread Semifreddo recipe is made with a cream and custard base, sweet roasted strawberries and buttery shortbread cookies, for a no churn frozen dessert, perfect for any occasion.
Table of Contents
Unlike other no churn ice creams, semifreddo adds a richness thanks to the egg yolks that are whipped up and then combined with whipped cream before adding in the real flavor powerhouses of our dish. This easy-to-follow recipe will walk you through every step, so you can create this impressive dessert with confidence.
Ingredients and substitutions for Strawberry Shortbread Semifreddo
- Strawberries: Fresh strawberries were used here because they are plenty in season, however, because you roast them, substituting with frozen would work fine. It is recommended to roast longer to get the full effect of drawing out the moisture in the berries.
- Eggs: Whipped the eggs with the sugar gives our semifreddo the volume and richness that compliments the cream and works particularly well with the strawberry flavor.
- Sugar: The best sugar here is superfine or caster sugar which adds the sweetness without any additional flavor.
- Vanilla bean paste: The vanilla bean used here is fresh from homemade vanilla extract, if you do not have any on hand, simply substitute in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to your cream mixture so as not to cook off the extract in the roasting/cooking process.
- Heavy Cream: The heavy cream makes for a nice controllable whipped cream gives our no churn iced dessert it’s signature texture. I have not tried making this with coconut whipped cream so cannot recommend.
- Shortbread: This one is an easy win, simply use the best store-bought shortbread you can find…or you can make a small batch which I’ve written up in the FAQ’s below!
See recipe card for quantities.
How to make Strawberry Shortbread Semifreddo:
Strawbs: Stir the strawberries, sugar and vanilla paste in your baking dish.
Bake: Until the strawberries are a deep color and the juices have cooked off. Allow to cool fully.
1
Blend: Blend ⅔'s of the roasted strawberries and all the syrup in a blender until smooth.
Reduce: On low heat, cook the blended berry sauce until it has been reduced by ⅓.
2
Beat it: Beat the eggs, extract and sugar until pale and fluffy over a double boiler.
Whip it: Whip the cream until soft peaks form.
Fold: Stir the strawberry sauce and roasted strawberries through the cream.
3
Custard and cream: Fold the cream through the custard until smooth.
Shortbread: Crumble the shortbread into the custard and stir until combined.
4
Freeze: Pour the creamy custard into a freezer proof dish and smooth out. Freeze!
Soften: When ready to serve, remove and allow to stand for 10 minutes at room temperature.
Scoop and serve: Scoop up into serving bowls and dig in!
FAQ’s for the best Strawberry Shortbread Semifreddo
Yes you can! Due to the small amount you need here, even the dough doesn’t take long to come together!
Here is the recipe:
Shortbread
50 grams / 1.75 ounces butter, softened
25 grams / ¼ cup confectioner’s/icing sugar
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
106 grams / ⅔ cup plain flour, sifted
Directions:
Cream the butter, sugar and vanilla beans and beat on medium until pale and fluffy, approximately 4 minutes with a hand beater.
Add the flour and combine on low until just combined and no dry patches remain in the bowl.
Shape into a dish, roll out into ¼ inch thickness and cut into rectangle shaped shortbread.
Place on your lined baking tray and refrigerate for 20 minutes or until the dough feels cold to the touch.
Preheat the oven to 180C/350F and bake for 14 minutes or until lightly golden on the edges.
Remove and allow to cool fully before breaking into bite size pieces.
Yes! Roasted strawberries are a great way to prolong the life of strawberries which is another reason this is a great way to consumer them. You can roast the strawberries up to 3 days before including into the semfreddo, allow them to cool somewhat before covering and refrigerating.
More strawberry desserts you'll love
Strawberry Shortbread Semifreddo
Ingredients
Roasted Strawberries
- 600 grams / 1.3 pounds strawberries
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 50 grams / ¼ cup superfine/caster sugar
Vanilla Semifreddo
- 165 grams / 3 large eggs room temperature
- 36 grams / 2 large egg yolks room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50 grams / ¼ cup superfine/caster sugar
- 435 grams / 2 cups - 1 tablespoon heavy cream
- 80 grams / 2.8 ounces shortbread broken into uneven bite size pieces
Instructions
Roasted strawberries
- Preheat the oven to 160C/320F.
- Toss the strawberries, sugar and vanilla paste into your baking dish and stir together.
- Place in the oven and bake until the strawberries are a deep color and the juices have cooked off, approximately 50 minutes.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
- Set ⅓ of the roasted strawberries aside and place the remaining roasted strawberries and all the syrup into a blender and blend until smooth.
- Pour into a saucepan and cook on low-medium heat until bubbling and the liquid has reduced by about ⅓, approximately 15 minutes. You’ll know they’re perfect when the bubbles are thick and the smell is intensely fruity. Set aside.
Vanilla semifreddo
- Place the eggs, yolks, extract and sugar into a heatproof bowl over a double boiler on medium heat and whip until thickened and pale, approximately 12 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Fold the reduced strawberry sauce into the egg mixture until well combined.
- Whip the cream until soft peaks are just reached and then fold into the cooled fluffy egg mixture.
- Add in the roasted strawberries and fold until well combined.
- Finally toss in the shortbread chunks and fold until well combined.
- Pour into a freezer proof dish and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Remove and allow to soften slightly.
- Scoop up and serve in bowls or ice cream cones.
- Enjoy!
Notes
- Strawberries: Fresh strawberries were used here because they are plenty in season, however, because you roast them, substituting with frozen would work fine. It is recommended to roast longer to get the full effect of drawing out the moisture in the berries.
- Vanilla bean paste: The vanilla bean used here is fresh from homemade vanilla extract, if you do not have any on hand, simply substitute in 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract to your cream mixture so as not to cook off the extract in the roasting/cooking process.
- Shortbread: This one is an easy win, simply use the best store-bought shortbread you can find…or you can make a small batch which I’ve written up in the FAQ’s!
- Freezerproof tin: The tin used here fits 1 kilo or 2 pounds and it was filled pretty high!
Nutrition
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