Raspberry Banana Semi-Freddo w/ Homemade Granola

I personally love making semi-freddo because I'm a HUGE ice cream fanatic, and a semi-freddo (meaning "half-frozen") is similar in nature to ice cream, but can be made much healthier. And you have essentially endless flavors you can incorporate to create a delicious, (somewhat) healthy dessert!

Overview

Serves: 6-8

Prep: 10 min

Cooking: 40 min

Total: 50 min

Difficulty: easy

Ingredients

1 c Heavy Cream

1 c Frozen Raspberries

1 Banana

1/2 c Water

4 Large Egg Yolks

3/4 c Sugar

Salt to taste

3 c Old-Fashioned Oats

1/2 c Pepitas

1 c Crushed Pecans

1 Large Egg White

1/3 c Honey

1 T Vanilla Extract

1/2 c Canola Oil

1 T Cinnamon

1 t Cumin

1/2 t Cayenne

Directions

Start by lining a 9x5x3 in. loaf pan (or any pan you desire for that matter - just make sure it's not too large or your semi-freddo will be very thin) with parchment paper.

*Hint: Rubbing oil on the bottom of the pan before placing in your parchment paper will allow the paper to fit snugly on the bottom without crevices.

For the whipped cream:

Place heavy cream in bowl (or Kitchenaid) and whisk vigorously until medium-stiff peak forms. Place in the refrigerator to keep cold.

For the semi-freddo:

Place 1 c of frozen raspberries and one banana into a blender with 1/2 c of water and blend thoroughly. Reserve purée for later.

Separate egg yolks from the whites and place the yolks into a bowl. Add the sugar and salt and whip until the eggs have turned light yellow in appearance.

Place the bowl over a pot of boiling water and whisk vigorously until the egg mixture has thickened into a custard (be careful to not allow your eggs to cook - if you see any coagulation occurring, remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking vigorously).

Once custard has formed, remove from the heat and gently temper into the whipped cream using the rule of thirds (fold 1/3 of the custard into the whipped cream at a time which will help ease the temperatures of the custard and whipped cream towards each other).

Fold in the raspberry puree and place in the freezer for a minimum of 2 hours, but ideally allow to freeze overnight.

For the granola:

Pre-heat oven to 300 F and line baking sheet with parchment paper.

Combine egg white, honey, vanilla extract, salt, cinnamon, cumin, cayenne and canola oil in a bowl and whisk to combine.

Fold oats, pepitas and crushed pecans into the mixture until combined.

Lay the mixture onto the baking sheet in a single-layer and bake, stirring and rotating every 10 minutes, until crisp and golden brown. Allow to cool.

To serve:

Place a layer of granola into a bowl. Cut a portion of semi-freddo and place on top of granola. Garnish with fresh raspberries and mint.

Enjoy!