Crunchie semifreddo

‘Twas the night before Halloween and I was at the local Tesco Express, taking full advantage of a 2-for-70p offer on Crunchie bars. These were to be bestowed 24 hrs hence upon the local elves.  True, my wife and I did not greet a single costumed trick-or-treater at the door of our Islington flat over the past three Halloweens. Still, we could not bear the thought of disappointing even one hungry child who might roam our way. And if perchance our Crunchies were left unclaimed we would put them to good use. This year’s inspiration was to chop up a few of the unclaimed bars and sprinkle the bits between the layers of a semifreddo.

The milk-chocolate-coated Crunchie is great as an ice cream or yogurt mix-in, a suggestion that has not escaped devotees in the Crunchie diaspora like New Zealand eCook Allyson Goften (see her Crunchie Bar ice cream recipe). This is what is done with classic chocolate bars, especially the nutty or crunchy ones. Nigella has an ice cream cake recipe in which she calls for Crunchie “broken into shards and rubble”. And Cadbury has extended its brand by marketing Crunchie Ice Cream Bars in many countries (though not the UK).  So why not try a Crunchie semifreddo? Nigella proved that honey was a great flavour for semifreddo in her famous recipe. The chopped bits of Crunchie seemed the perfect accessory for the soft, rich, creamy, velvety, custardy, near-frozen parfait.

So how did our Crunchie semifreddo turn out? Even better than hoped. While the larger bits held their trademark crunch, the honeycomb toffee melted sensuously into both the cream and the raspberry coulis we used as a topping.  To borrow my Crunchie-loving niece Molly’s favourite word, “awesome”! 

Next year we will again be buying Crunchies for Halloween, with one important difference: we plan to be out all night. Although no child paid us a visit this year we cannot again bear the risk, however small, of even a solitary trick-or-treater coming to take our Crunchie bars away. 

This recipe is for two small loaves.  You can make it in a single, litre-sized loaf, but I find prefer to serve it in thick, chunky slices cut from the smaller loaves.

makes 8 servings

500 ml (2 cups) double cream
3 eggs
125 g (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoons) caster sugar
3 Crunchie bars (40g/1.4oz size), coarsely chopped

1. Line 2 half-litre loaf tins with cling film and refrigerate.
2. Beat or whip the double cream in a mixing bowl just until thick. 
3. Separate the eggs into a second and third mixing bowl. 
4. Add the caster sugar to the egg yolks and beat with a whisk until fluffy and pale yellow.
5. Beat or whip the egg whites until stiff.
6. Fold the egg yolk mixture into the stiff egg whites, add the whipped cream, and mix gently.
7. Sprinkle an even layer of Crunchie bits on the bottom of both tins. Top with a layer of the creamy semifreddo mixture. Repeat with alternating layers until you’ve used up the ingredients. Cover and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours.
8. To serve, turn semifreddo out onto a serving plate, peel off the plastic wrap, and let stand 5 minutes to soften slightly. Cut semifreddo into thick slices and drizzle each serving, if desired, with raspberry coulis.