Techniques: Freezing

The perfect place to make delicious frozen dishes, whether sweet or savoury, is a freezer compartment with a low-frost function. With temperatures way south of zero, liquids freeze and turn into solid masses; if you’re trying to achieve creaminess, the recipe has to be perfect – and it’s less a question of the proportions of milk to cream and fruit than of the sugar content. Sucrose (standard household sugar), glucose and fructose all lower the freezing point of mixtures for ice cream, for example, which stops the water contained in the mass from crystallising too much as it solidifies – a good shot of strong alcohol can actually have the same effect, as can continuous stirring. A parfait (or, in Italian cooking, semifreddo) is the perfect beginners’ dish in this discipline as it is served half-frozen, melting deliciously in the mouth.

For a parfait, whisk egg yolks and sugar over a bain-marie until creamy, add flavouring such as fruit, meringue, nuts or spices, and then fold in whipping cream (you can substitute some of the cream for yoghurt if you’re looking to cut calories). All you need to do now is put the parfait into the freezer.

Tip: If you have a NoFrost freezer, make sure to cover the parfait as the humidity in the freezer will be very low and the parfait could be spoiled by freezer burn.

Contrary to ice cream recipes, there is no need to stir the parfait mass as it chills. Remove the parfait from the freezer and leave at room temperature for 45 minutes prior to serving; turn the form upside down and knock the parfait out, cutting it into slices.

Serving suggestion: Spoon the parfait into thick glasses, freeze for 4-5 hours, and then simply bring up to temperature for 30 minutes before eating.

Make it pretty:Melt some milk chocolate, spread it on baking paper, and sprinkle with spices; leave to cool.