For Labor Day weekend, you don’t need something fancy, and certainly nothing laborious—the kind of thing that pulls you away from soaking in the last bits of summer, that laps into your good long chill in a hammock or the chance to catch the way the sun hits your daughter’s pink, freckled nose. No, this weekend you need something easy and—without a doubt—you need something make ahead. Because after all, even summering hard until the back to school bell rings on Wednesday morning won’t stop time. Enjoy, friends.
xx
RECIPE BELOW
RASPBERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM CAKE
Reprinted from EVERY DAY IS SATURDAY with permission by Chronicle Books
This is an anytime summer special that’s easy to make and wows a crowd with its thick, marbled slabs. It will feel like ice cream, but it’s technically a semifreddo (an easier homemade ice cream substitute that slices beautifully)—but no one needs to know that. Slice, serve, and sit back and watch the heads bent over dishes, as your guests silently spoon it in before it melts
10 chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed (about ½ cup/52 g)
2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
3 cups (360 g) fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tsp grated lemon zest
3 large eggs
2 large egg yolks
Seeds of 1 vanilla bean, scraped
1 cup (200 g) sugar
Fine sea salt
1½ cups (360 ml) heavy cream
Line the bottom of an 8½ by 4½ inch (21.5 by 11 cm) loaf pan with waxed paper.
Stir together the cookies and melted butter and set aside. Combine the raspberries, lemon juice, and zest in a high-powered blender and puree until completely smooth. Set aside.
Combine the whole eggs, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds, sugar, and a pinch of salt in a heatproof bowl, set over a pot of simmering water so that the bowl doesn’t touch the water, and cook over medium heat, whisking the eggs constantly, until thick and pale, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and beat with an electric mixer until thick and completely cool, 2 to 3 minutes more. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whip the cream until soft peaks form, 2 to 3 minutes, depending on the speed of your mixer. Gently fold the egg mixture into the whipped cream, taking care to keep it light and airy. (Take a tiny taste at this point; it’s so delicious!)
Pull out 2 cups (480 ml) of the mixture, put it in a bowl, and fold in the raspberry puree until it is a uniform pink color. Dollop the two mixtures in heaping ladlefuls, alternating vanilla and raspberry cream, into the prepared pan. You can leave it like this, for a more modern look, or use a skewer or a thin knife to streak and marble the two creams together in places.
Cover tightly with plastic wrap and freeze, level, until it starts to firm up, about 1 hour. When the semifreddo has set a bit (is notjiggly), sprinkle the buttered chocolate cookie crumbs evenly over the top to make a crust, and press them in just slightly. Freeze until completely solid, at least 2 hours and up to 2 days.
To serve the cake, dip an offset spatula into warm water and turn the cake out onto a chilled platter. Slice and serve within 5minutes; return to the freezer until ready to serve a second round.
GET AHEAD
Because you need it to set up to slice nicely, an icebox cake is just the thing to make far ahead and have at the ready. Make this up to a day in advance, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and THEN foil. Because of its lower fat content, freezing it any longer than 2 days can make it turn icy—though still delicious
TOTAL TIME: 6 HOURs (includes chilling)
SERVES 6 to 8
**This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.** images belong to Sarah Copeland // Chronicle Books and should not be pinned or posted without attribution. **
photos // GENTL + HYERS
styling // SARAH COPELAND