Cool summer dessert is deceptively simple

In her new cookbook, “Every Day Is Saturday,” Sarah Copeland’s goal is to bring a weekend-cook mentality to weekday meals. Copeland is the former food editor for Real Simple magazine and a nutrition educator. She’s no stranger to a hectic work schedule, so she had to develop strategies for feeding her family all week.

She says this gorgeous make-ahead summer dessert from the book is “technically a semifreddo (an easier homemade ice cream substitute that slices beautifully) — but no one needs to know that.”

RASPBERRY RIPPLE ICE CREAM CAKE

Serves 6 to 8

10 chocolate wafer cookies, finely crushed (about 1/2 cup)

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

3 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, thawed

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3 large eggs

2 large egg yolks

Seeds of 1 vanilla bean, scraped

1 cup sugar

Fine sea salt

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Line the bottom of an 8 1/2 by 4 1/2 inch 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 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 not jiggly), 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 5 minutes; return to the freezer until ready to serve a second round.

Tribune News Service