BANANA SEMIFREDDO - Eggless and Easy

                      You have to dream, before your dream can come true.- Abdul Kalam

How was your weekend?  Anything special??

Well, mine was.  I met President OBAMA! Yippee, and boy oh boy was he as good looking in person and even more charming.

OK let's not get too excited too soon, I met him In my DREAMS........ literally.

I was a busy girl in my dreams.

I dreamt I was in Waikiki Beach.

I dreamt I ran a 50 mile marathon.

I dreamt I was eating Ice cream right out of a box and I didn't gain an ounce(I wish)..

Well, at least one dream could be partly satisfied right?:)

Semifreddo(semi frozen)is an Italian dessert. The perfect delicate chilled dessert was the star of our Saturday dinner. 

Very elegant, simple and best of all, it is easy to make.

Pardon me for not using fresh berries, especially when found in abundance. Was too lazy to go get some when we were having company in less than an hour. 

Here goes the simple dessert.

Inspired by BBC Good Food,  which I bookmarked  way way back.  I 've seen Semifreddo make it's rounds in summer quite often and it's perfect on a hot day after a spicy meal. This is just a method, I just made it my way, this is NO way the traditional form which uses eggs and tastes delicious too.  This is what I tried and loved.

BANANA SEMIFREDDO

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Whipping Cream(chilled)      
• 1 cup Milk( 2 percent)        
• 1/4 cup Condensed Milk( or you could use sugar instead)
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tsp cornstarch            
• 1 banana  ripe            
• pistachios and berries of your choice

Method:

1. Chill the bowl you want to whip your cream in for 2 hours.
2.  Dissolve cornstarch in 3 tbsp of cold milk very well and keep aside.
3. In a pan on medium to low heat, add Milk and bring it to a point where you can see little bubble around the edges.
4. Add the dissolved cornstarch to the milk along with the condensed milk and keep stirring, making sure not to get any lumps.
5. Once the mixture coats the back of the spoon or the mixture is little thick like custard consistency, turn off the stove and let it cool.  Make sure to apply some plastic film on top of the custard so it doesn't form a coating(yuck)....
6.  If you want to speed up the cooling process, take a big bowl of ice cubes and leave the custard with the pan on top of the ice and keep stirring..
7. Once completely cooled , in a blender, food processor or A MAGIC Bullet(I love it)...add the custard, banana and puree it to a fine paste and keep it in the refrigerator for 20-30 minutes before adding it to the cream and whipping it.
8.  Now take the chilled bowl from the freezer, add the chilled whipping cream using a hand beater or stand mixer, whip the cream mixture till stiff peaks form with 2 tbsp of sugar.
9.  Whip the custard to a good consistency and fold the whipped cream in very very carefully.
10.  Line a pan with wax paper or line a bowl with plastic wrap and POUR the Cream mixture in it, wrap and freeze for minimum of 4-6 hours or overnight.
11.  Let sit at room temp for 10 minutes, take it out on a platter, serve with fresh fruits of your choice and nuts.

ENJOY!!!!
Note- You can increase or decrease the amount of sweetness depending on your taste.