The time has come to develop a truly refreshing dessert recipe. When the weather is mercilessly hot and muggy, as it too often these days is in the Northeast (alas!), my being craves frozen custards, gelato, ice cream cakes, and sugary, iced what-nots that aren’t that good for you, really… So I decided to set out to the challenge of making my own vegan, gluten and sugar-free Italian-ish semifreddo.
What’s a Semifreddo?
Semifreddo is a cold, almost-frozen custard type of spoon dessert that’s consumed in Italy, mostly during summertime due to its cooling benefits. The word itself means “not entirely ice-cold” in Italian.
Image above: The Natural Pools, Island of Ponza, Italy.
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the inspiration
The inspiration for this veganized semifreddo comes from a lovely contributor to the Botanical Anthology magazine, Jenni Elyse Woolery, who shared a fruity and floral popsicle recipe in the Summer 2025 issue of the journal. Named after her Great Grandmother Jenni Woolery, the daughter of enslaved Sharecroppers, Jenni Elyse Woolery has made it her life mission to reclaim ancestral land based stewardship. She’s a farmer, herbalist, activist, writer, yogini, initiated Olorisha, and the founder of the Indigi Golden Herbal Folk Academy 501©3, whose main purpose is uplifting the voices of Indigenous Medicine Folk.
You can reach her on Instagram @indigigoldenherbalsmedicine.
Back to the recipes
Back to our recipe, this healthy cold dessert is easy to make ahead and store in the freezer for up to 10 days, so you have it readily-available when a sudden craving hits you.
The semifreddo will not only refresh your body, but also your spirit, thanks to the calming properties of tulsi (a holy herb of the Vedic tradition) and bee balm, the two botanicals used here.
Studies have shown that tulsi, commonly known by the name of holy basil, can help balance neurotransmitters and thus aid the system with coping with stress and anxiety. Since tulsi is an adaptogen, it can also serve as a natural mood booster to level out serotonin and dopamine levels in the nervous system.
Beebalm is believed to help soothe upper-respiratory congestion and assist with regulating blood pressure, and who doesn’t need help with a little of both on a 104° F day, I wonder?
With regard to the fruit, I’ve chosen to use cantaloupe, but you can substitute the melon for a any other summer fruit that you like better, or have available in your shared allotment, veg patch, or at the farmer’s stand.
As always, have fun connecting with the recipes and your own kitchen magic. Envisage blue-water beaches as a bite of the frozen custard melts in your mouth.
Prep Time: 18-20 min | Chill Time: 8-12 hrs | Serves: 6
Ingredients
- 8 oz cantaloupe cubes, frozen
- 6.5 oz silken tofu
- 4.5 oz avocado flesh, ripe
- 2 tbsp agave syrup
- 1 tbsp bee balm petals
- 1 tbsp tulsi
- 1 tsp agar flakes
Method
Cream the tofu and avocado in a blender. Transfer to a small saucepan, mix in the agar flakes, agave syrup, beebalm petals, and tulsi leaves, and reduce for 10 minutes over low heat whisking often. Remove from heat and set aside to cool for 5 minutes.
Remove the tulsi leaves and bee balm petals and discard. You can also leave them in the custard, that would be okay, too. Return to the blender, add the frozen cubed cantaloupe, and blitz until a smooth, no-chunk cream is formed. Depending on the blender, this may take anywhere between 1 to 3 minutes. If the blender has difficulty creaming the mixture, blitz first, scrape the sides of the blender with a spatula, and blitz again.
Spoon the custard into 6 silicon molds and freeze anywhere between 8 hours to overnight.
Remove from the molds 1 hr before serving. Keep chilled in the refrigerator in the meantime. Freeze what doesn’t get eaten and consume within 10 days.
