Coffee Semifreddo with Salted Caramel Pistachios - Recipe by Julius Roberts.

Ingredients

Caramelised pistachios:

100 g pistachios, with skin removed
100 g caster sugar
Good pinch of flaky salt

Semifreddo:

5 egg whites
200 g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
300mLdouble cream
30mL cold, strong espresso (or really strong, thick coffee)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 C and line a baking tray with a silicone make or baking paper.

Toast the pistachios for about 10 minutes, until crisp and crunchy – they burn easily so set a timer.

While the nuts are toasting, pour 100 g sugar into a wide pan, ideally a silver-coloured pan so you can see the colour of the caramel as it changes.

Shake the sugar so it spreads evenly and place pan on a medium-high heat. The sugar will begin to melt at the edges and spread inwards – it’s tempting to give it a stir and help it melt evenly but don’t or it will crystallise.

You can give the pan a shimmy and shake, just no stirring. Watch the colour, at first it will be translucent, then it will begin to caramelise and darken – you are looking for a reddish colour.

When the caramel is ready, turn off the heat and pour in the nuts while they are still hot. Add a generous pinch of flaky salt and mix with a spatula to completely coat them in the caramel, then quickly pour onto the lined tray and leave to cool.

When set, bash with a rolling pin to break apart – looking for individual nuts and halves.

Grab a terrine dish or bread tin, about 25 cm x 10 cm, and line it with 2-3 sheets of cling film, this is vital to getting the semifreddo out later.

Whisk the egg whites in a clean bowl until they form stiff peaks, you are looking for a silky foaminess that still has movement. If you lift up your whisk it should leave a spike that folds over itself, not a stiff foam that has gone too hard.

Add the sugar little by little while whisking continuously to create a light meringue.

In a separate bowl, scrape out the vanilla pod and add to double cream, whip until it thickens and leaves little ribbons behind the whisk.

Carefully fold the pistachios and coffee into the cream, then fold in the meringue using a spatula, little by little.

Pour into prepared dish over the cling film and freeze until, at least 6-8 hours over overnight.

To serve:

Turn out semifreddo from mould, peel off cling film and slice thicky on a breadboard.

Quickly wrap any leftovers back up and place in the freezer for another day.

Credits: The Farm Table by Julius Roberts, Ebury Press, RRP $55.

Photo Credits: Elena Heatherwick.