Frozen summer fruit semifreddo pudding

It's beginning to look a lot like a very Aussie Christmas with this fruity frozen pud.

Credit: China Squirrel

• serves

  6-8

• prep

  35 minutes

• cook

  5 minutes

• difficulty

  Easy

Let’s be honest. Traditional fruit puddings aren’t for everyone. Sure they’re good with a cup of tea, but sometimes you just want something, well, cool. Enter the semifreddo pudding. Since we’re celebrating an Aussie Christmas, we’ve given the chilled Italian custard a decidedly fruity feel with mangoes, passionfruit, pomegranate and peaches. 

Ingredients

• 2 medium mangoes, peeled, stone removed and chopped
• 3 peaches, peeled, stone removed and chopped
• 1 passionfruit, plus 2 extra, strained and seeds discarded
• 1 egg
• 2 egg yolks
• 115 g (½ cup) caster sugar
• 300 ml thickened cream

To serve

• 1 pomegranate, halved
• 2 passionfruit, strained, seeds discarded
• 200 g fresh raspberries
• 45 g (⅓ cup) hazelnuts, roasted, skins removed and roughly chopped

Chilling/freezing time: overnight

Instructions

Line a 1.5 litre (6 cup) pudding basin with plastic wrap, allowing some of the plastic wrap to hang over the top. Process mango and peaches into a food processor until smooth. Strain passionfruit pulp through a fine sieve; add juice to fruit mixture, discarding passionfruit seeds. Set aside.

Place egg, egg yolks and sugar into a medium heatproof bowl, beat with an electric mixer until thick and creamy, about 3-4 minutes. Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water and whisk for a further 5 minutes or until mixture doubles in size. Remove from heat and set aside to cool at room temperature.

Use an electric mixer to whip the cream until soft peaks form, about 2-3 minutes. Fold the cooled egg custard and fruit mixture through whipped cream, then spoon it into your prepared pudding basin. Cover the top with plastic wrap and freeze overnight. 

In a small bowl, combine the pomegranate seeds and juice, passionfruit juice and raspberries. Mix well, crushing the raspberries slightly with the back of a spoon.

To serve, remove pudding from the freezer, stand for 5 minutes, then invert onto a serving plate.

Drizzle with the fruit mixture and scatter over hazelnuts.

Recipe, photography, styling and food preparation by China Squirrel.

For plenty more puddings, head here, or check out our Christmas recipe collection. 

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Let’s be honest. Traditional fruit puddings aren’t for everyone. Sure they’re good with a cup of tea, but sometimes you just want something, well, cool. Enter the semifreddo pudding. Since we’re celebrating an Aussie Christmas, we’ve given the chilled Italian custard a decidedly fruity feel with mangoes, passionfruit, pomegranate and peaches.