Occasionally, I like to pretend that I’m a thrifty cook who can always whip up something fabulous from leftover ingredients or foods.  And if I hadn’t just confessed that I am merely pretending, you’d all think I was totally amazing for looking at some leftover egg yolks (from an Opera Cake), the bottomless bag of apples and a half-full pot of cream in the fridge and coming up with the idea of semifreddo.

I had vaguely contemplated making Skye Gyngell’s Apple Ice-Cream with roasted cobnuts and caramel sauce, but got no further than buying cream.  I also completely overlooked the necessity of pre-freezing the cannister for my ice-cream maker.  And then along came these egg yolks that needed to be used up…

It dawned upon me that I could turn the egg yolks into pate a bombe—a common component of mousse and occasionally of semifreddo—fold in the cream and then the apples.  But what to do with the apples?  “Er… I know, I’ll bake them,” said I.

So that’s just what I did.

I peeled and chopped a couple of eating apples which would keep their shape once baked and also a little Bramley apple which would collapse into sticky-golden purée.  This would give an apple flavour throughout the semifreddo as well as delicious chunks of baked apple.  The apples were dotted with little bits of butter and sprinkled with sugar then baked with whole spices until golden, sticky and tender.

I’m ridiculously proud of myself for making the pate a bombe.  After several disastrous attempts at Italian meringue in the past, I’ve stuck firmly to making Swiss meringue and avoided fiddling around with sugar thermometers and syrups.  However, since joining The Daring Bakers, I’ve been a bit more, well, daring, and decided to give it a go.

I’ve never met a sugar thermometer that I’ve trusted or gotten along with, so I ignored that and just cooked the apple syrup for exactly 2 minutes once it came to the boil; while the syrup cooked, I whisked the egg yolks in my KitchenAid until they were pale and beginning to go fluffy.  Once the syrup was done, I poured it into a jug to give better control when adding it to the egg yolks.

With the mixer off I added a tiny trickle of the syrup and immediately flicked it on high to incorporate it without scrambling the eggs.  And then it was just a case of repeating that, with the increments of syrup getting larger each time until it was all incorporated and the mixture had massively increased in volume and had become billowing and fluffy.   I left the mixer running on slow until the bowl felt cool to ensure that there wouldn’t be any little bits of scrambled egg lurking and also to firm up the structure a little.  Now that I’d created this fabulously light pate a bombe, I didn’t want to lose any of the air that was whisked into it.

To keep the semifreddo from freezing solid, I added a couple of tablespoons of brandy which enhanced the flavour of the apples, too.  A little cinnamon folded in with the softly whipped cream made everything perfect.

I was a bit worried that the apple pieces would sink down to the bottom of the semifreddo if I incorporated them into the mixture before freezing, so I just poked them into the firmed up mixture (at random depths) after it had been in the freezer for about an hour.  This worked out nicely and each slice looked different, so I was quite pleased.

I like how this turned into a British interpretation of an Italian classic.  Rather like how the Italian’s have interpreted trifle into Zuppa Inglese but in a very autumnal fashion.  The warm, spicy apple chunks are totally British in flavour, and the incredibly light, silky smooth texture is utterly Italian.

For an extra burst of flavour, I drizzled the cut slices with some apple glaze, made with some of the apple juice that we bought at Our Small Farm last month.  Some crisp-tart slices of Granny Smith apples gave a fresh and crunchy contrast to what had turned into a celebration of apples.

Baked apple semifreddo

• 3 apples (I used two dessert apples and one Bramley (cooking))
• 40g light brown sugar
• 30g unsalted butter, diced
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise

• 4 large egg yolks
• 120g caster sugar
• 60ml apple juice
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons brandy (or calvados if you happen to have some)
• 250ml double cream, whisked to soft peaks

Preheat the oven to 200C.  Peel, core and chop the apples into eight wedges.  Cut each wedge in half to create chunks.  Put the apples in a shallow dish that is big enough to take them in a single layer.  Tuck the spices and sprinkle the sugar and butter over the top.  Bake for about 50 minutes, basting occasionally with the cooking juices.  The apples should be soft and caramelised but still retaining their shape.  Leave to cool before picking out the spices.

Whisk egg yolks with a pinch of salt in an electric mixer for 5-7 minutes or until pale and fluffy. Combine sugar and apple juice in a small saucepan and stir over medium-high heat until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 2-3 minutes or until syrupy, then drizzle into egg yolks, whisking continuously until mixture is cold.  Whisk in the cinnamon and brandy.  Fold in the cream and transfer the semifreddo mixture to a loaf tin lined with clingfilm.

Freeze for two hours then carefully stir in the apple chunks.  Smooth the top and leave to freeze until firm.  This will depend on your freezer.  When ready to serve, leave in the fridge for 4 minutes to soften slightly, turn out onto a plate and peel away the clingfilm.  Cut into slices and serve with the apple glaze drizzled over.

Apple Caramel Glaze

Source: Adapted from Sherry Yard’s recipe

• 100g caster sugar
• 2 tablespoons water
• 60ml apple juice
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• 1 cinnamon stick (saved from baking the apples)
• 1 star anise (saved from baking the apples)

Put the caster sugar and 2 tablespoons water together in a small saucepan and stir together until all the sugar has been moistened.  Cover and place over a medium heat for 4 minutes.  Uncover pan, increase heat to high and cook until a medium golden caramel forms.  Turn off the heat and leave for a minute until the bubbles have subsided.

While caramel cools, combine the remaining ingredients in a small jug and bring to the boil in the microwave.  Carefully add this to the caramel—wear oven gloves and stand well back as it will splatter—and whisk the mixture together until it smooths out.  Cover and leave to infuse for 20 minutes before fishing out the spices.  You can use warm or cold.