Mat Lindsay’s salted caramel semifreddo recipe

The combination of salt and caramel has become a classic for very good reason.

Salted Caramel semifreddo. Picture: Patricia Niven

Dessert should bring a sense of occasion and celebration, and be a means to close a meal on a high. You’ll find salt and acid in my desserts – I’m always looking for them to provide balance. If the dessert follows a simpler meal, then it might be the time to dial up the richness with chocolate, caramel or dairy. Whatever the direction, something playful, even frivolous, is a good idea. Dessert exists for the sole purpose of pleasure. Make it fun.

The combination of salt and caramel has become a classic for very good reason. This semifreddo is very good served just as it is, but also works well with a poached pear, and is surprisingly excellent served with a dollop of honey and a drizzle of tahini.

It’s best to begin this recipe at least seven hours before you’d like to serve it, in order to give everything time to chill.

If you like this, try:

• Donna Hay’s bombe Alaska
• Joe Pizzaro’s walnut, honey and sherry semifreddo
• Lennox Hastie’s creme brulee

Ester by chef Mat Lindsay.

Mat Lindsay. Picture: Patricia Niven

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Salted caramel semifreddo

Ingredients

• 700ml thickened cream
• For the salted caramel
• 200g caster sugar
• 100g unsalted butter, diced
• 300ml cream
• A pinch of flaky sea salt

For the sabayon

• 12 egg yolks
• 100g caster sugar

Method

1. For the salted caramel, combine the sugar and 100ml water in a heavy-based saucepan over medium heat and cook, without stirring, and brushing down the sides with a little water from time to time, until you have a very dark caramel, bordering on too dark. (The added bitterness from the caramel helps to pull this dessert back from the brink of being too sweet.)
2. Carefully add the butter and stir until melted and combined, then add the cream. Bring to a simmer for a minute to make sure all the sugar has dissolved, then add flaky sea salt. Make it quite salty; it needs more than you think to balance all the other parts of the dish. Cool this completely in the fridge.
3. To make the sabayon, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together energetically in a metal bowl set over a pot of simmering water, double-boiler style (be careful not to let the bowl touch the hot water), until the mixture doubles in size and is billowy and pale; a probe thermometer should read 89C. Cool this completely in the fridge too.
4. Whip the thickened cream to soft peaks in a bowl – by hand, with beaters or in a stand mixer – then let it cool in the fridge.
5. When all three pieces of the puzzle – caramel, sabayon and whipped cream – are ready at the same fridge-coldness, add the sabayon to the salted caramel and mix thoroughly, then gently fold in the whipped cream with a rubber spatula until combined.
6. Transfer the mixture to a terrine mould lined with plastic wrap (lining the tin makes retrieval much easier) and freeze for at least 6 hours to set. Scoop or slice to serve as you see fit. Serves 10

This is an edited extract from Ester by Mat Lindsay with Pat Nourse