The Italian dessert you have to try — PHOTOS

If you're not familiar with semifreddo, think of it as ice cream's less-hefty sister — maybe Kendall or Kylie, compared to Kim. 

"I love semifreddo because it's so creamy," said Debra Mitchell, executive pastry chef at Treasure Island. "It incorporates two of my favorite things, which are mousse and frozen desserts. It's a bit lighter than ice cream and so versatile — so many things you can do with it. You can put it in vessels to serve, serve it in a glass, layer it with cake. And it's great poured into a loaf pan; you line a loaf pan with parchment paper or wrap, pour it in there and freeze it, then you can slice it, plate it and serve it with some fruit."

Mitchell said she usually serves the dessert, which translates from the Italian to "half-cold," as part of the resort's catering operation.

"We also do a take on the classic, sort of a cross between a semifreddo and a baked Alaska, in one of the restaurants," Mitchell said. "We have a tiramisu ice-cream sandwich, top it with meringue and brown it."

At MGM Grand, executive pastry chef Florent Cheveau prepares a semifreddo for Fiamma restaurant.

"What we like about it is the texture is really soft," Cheveau said. "It's a frozen dessert, but it's not completely frozen. I think what's really important in a dessert is you have the texture but it's soft. It's almost a mousse."

Cheveau said semifreddo also gives the cook more flexibility than ice cream because it doesn't melt as quickly.

Megan Romano, chef/owner of Chocolate & Spice Bakery, said semifreddos are easy to make.

"They're a fun, refreshing way to kind of improvise on any recipe," she said. "It's a version of a mousse, so that's pretty easy, pretty foolproof — something you can definitely do with kids, if you want."

Among the semifreddo variations Romano likes is fresh strawberry with amaretti cookies "crunched up in the middle."

"You can pour it into a loaf pan lined with parchment, and then you can do layers and top it with a lemon pound cake or a sponge cake so that when you flip it, it looks more polished," she said. "And then you could top it with fresh berries, or garnish it with sweet cream. It just requires a freezing step."

Another option, she said, would be to make a chocolate semifreddo with candy bars and/or M&Ms, topped with a mocha brownie. Or make a salted-caramel semifreddo with a chocolate-chip cookie base. Once you slide it out of the mold, top it with some honey caramel and a sprinkle of fleur de sel.

"I like things that are flavorful and have multiple layers of texture," Romano said. "Something cool, something room-temperature and then the warm caramel on top. You're not eating the same thing all the way through."

Or, since the dessert is appealing year-round, she said you could use pumpkin mascarpone semifreddo with a chocolate-chip cookie base.

"You can do a lot of things with it, it's real versatile," she said. "Light and airy — that's the whole point of it. You don't have to add a lot of additional items to create a lot of flavor."

And all of the chefs recommended experimenting with flavors. While Cheveau makes chocolate semifreddo for Fiamma, he said his own personal favorite is chocolate, caramel and peanut.

"We do a lot with coffee and chocolate," Mitchell said. "My favorite is Grand Marnier."

Mitchell shared her recipe for Grand Marnier semifreddo, which follows.

GRAND MARNIER PARFAIT SEMIFREDDO

7 egg yolks (use pasteurized-in-shell eggs or 7 tablespoons liquid pasteurized yolks)

15 tablespoons granulated sugar

2 tablespoons Grand Marnier

1 tablespoon fine orange zest and 2 tablespoons orange juice (from about ½ small orange)

¼ teaspoon vanilla bean paste

2 cups whipped heavy cream, plus more for garnish

Candied orange zest for garnish

Whip yolks and sugar hot over a double boiler until light in color and creamy.

Remove from heat and add Grand Marnier, zest, juice and vanilla. Whip with mixer fitted with a wire-whisk attachment on high speed until cool and fluffy, about 7 minutes.

Fold in whipped cream, portion into glasses and freeze three to four hours. Let sit a couple of minutes before serving.

Garnish with whipped cream and candied orange zest.

Makes about eight 5-ounce glasses.

Note: Can be made a day ahead.

— Recipe from Debra Mitchell, Treasure Island

PLUM SEMIFREDDO

Nonstick vegetable oil spray

1 1/2 pounds red plums, cut into chunks

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 cup sugar (divided use)

Kosher salt

3 large egg whites

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup chilled heavy cream

Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray and line with plastic wrap, leaving a generous overhang on all sides.

Combine plums, cardamom, 1/3 cup sugar and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until plums release their juices, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook until plums soften and start to fall apart, 6-8 minutes longer. Let cool slightly.

Puree plum mixture in a blender until very smooth. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium bowl, pressing on solids. Let cool. Set aside 1 cup puree for serving.

Whisk egg whites, a pinch of salt and remaining 2/3 cup sugar in a medium heatproof bowl (or the bowl of a stand mixer) and set over a saucepan of simmering water (do not let bowl touch water). Heat, whisking constantly, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is warm to the touch, about 4 minutes. Remove bowl from saucepan. Add vanilla and, using an electric mixer on high speed, beat until mixture is tripled in volume, glossy and completely cool, about 10 minutes.

Using clean beaters, whip cream in another medium bowl until soft peaks form. Fold one-third of whipped cream into egg-white mixture until just combined. Fold in remaining whipped cream until just combined. Fold in plum puree just until large streaks appear throughout mixture.

Transfer mixture to prepared pan and smooth top. Fold plastic wrap overhang over top and freeze until firm, at least 8 hours.

Unwrap semifreddo and, using plastic overhang, gently lift from pan. Invert semifreddo onto a large platter, remove plastic wrap, and slice 1-inch thick; transfer to plates and let sit at least 5 minutes to soften slightly. Serve with reserved plum puree.

Notes: Plum puree can be made three days ahead; cover and chill. Semifreddo can be made three days ahead; keep frozen.

Serves 8.

— Recipe from Bon Appetit

MOCHA CAKE WITH MALTED SEMIFREDDO

For cake:

4 teaspoons instant-espresso powder or instant-coffee granules

3 tablespoons hot water

8 ounces fine-quality bittersweet chocolate (not unsweetened), chopped

6 large eggs, separated

2/3 cup granulated sugar (divided use)

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder

For semifreddo:

3 large eggs at room temperature for 30 minutes

1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

2/3 cup chilled heavy cream

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/3 cup malted milk powder

Garnish: unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder and chocolate curls

To make cake, heat oven to 350 degrees. Oil a 15-by-10-by-1-inch baking pan and line bottom lengthwise with a large piece of wax paper, allowing a 2-inch overhang on each end.

Stir together espresso powder and hot water in a heavy saucepan until coffee is dissolved. Add chocolate and melt over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

Beat together yolks, 1/3 cup sugar and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a large bowl with a handheld electric mixer at moderately high speed until thick and pale, 5 to 7 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate.

Beat egg whites with remaining 1/8 teaspoon salt in another large bowl with cleaned beaters until they just hold soft peaks. Gradually add remaining 1/3 cup sugar and beat until whites just hold stiff peaks. Stir one third of whites into chocolate mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining whites gently but thoroughly.

Spread batter evenly in baking pan and bake in middle of oven until puffed and top is dry to the touch and springs back when gently pressed, 12 to 14 minutes. Cover cake with two layers of dampened paper towels and let stand in pan on a rack 3 minutes, then remove towels and cool completely. Loosen edges with a sharp knife.

Sift cocoa powder evenly over top of cake and overlap two layers of wax paper lengthwise over cake. Invert a baking sheet over cake, then invert cake onto it, gently peeling off wax paper now on top.

Lightly oil loaf pan and line with two 24-inch-long crisscrossed sheets of plastic wrap, letting excess hang over all sides. Using outside of loaf pan as a stencil, cut a rectangle from cake to line bottom of pan. Cut another rectangle for top of cake. Cut 2 pieces of cake to line long sides of pan, then 2 more for short sides. Fit all cake pieces (except top piece) into pan, cocoa sides against pan, pressing gently to help adhere. Wrap top piece of cake in plastic wrap and cover cake in pan with plastic-wrap overhang, then freeze cake while making semifreddo.

To make semifreddo, beat together eggs and brown sugar in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water with electric mixer at medium speed until mixture registers 160 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove bowl from heat and chill mixture until cool, about 10 minutes.

Mix together cream, vanilla and malted milk powder in a separate bowl at low speed with electric mixer until powder is dissolved, then increase speed to moderately high and beat until it just holds soft peaks. Stir one third of cream into egg mixture to lighten, then fold in remaining cream gently but thoroughly.

To assemble, spoon semifreddo into cake-lined pan, spreading evenly and smoothing top, and cover with top piece of cake. Freeze, covered with plastic-wrap overhang, until firm, at least 8 hours.

Before serving, let cake stand at room temperature 5 minutes. Unwrap plastic and invert cake onto a long platter, using plastic wrap to help pull cake from pan. Sift cocoa evenly over top to garnish, then top with chocolate curls and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

— Recipe from Gourmet

EGGNOG SEMIFREDDO

2/3 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

2 large eggs

2 cups 1 percent low-fat milk

2/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tablespoons dark rum

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Combine the first three ingredients in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk.

Cook milk in a heavy saucepan over medium-high heat to 180 degrees, or until tiny bubbles form around the edge (do not boil). Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat until thick (about 8 minutes), stirring constantly. Remove from heat.

Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl until custard cools to room temperature (about 15 minutes), stirring frequently. Stir in the yogurt, rum and vanilla; pour mixture into a glass bowl. Cover and place in freezer eight hours. Remove mixture from freezer; let stand 15 minutes. Place in a food processor; process until smooth. Serve immediately.

Serves 6.

— Recipe from Cooking Light

— Contact Heidi Knapp Rinella at Hrinella@reviewjournal.com. Find more of her stories at www.reviewjournal.com and bestoflasvegas.com and follow @HKRinella on Twitter.