ISABEL: Today I'm going to make our signature dish.

It's a Honeycomb Semifreddo with shaved 18-month-aged comte cheese.

This is our take on a classic French cheese plate.

Just a little more fun and I think a little more delicious.

I think you're going to love it.

SETH: I have no doubt I'm going to love it.

But semifreddo, I'm thinking that's kind of like an ice cream?

ISABEL: Semifreddo translates to "half-frozen" in Italian.

So an ice cream, you usually have to use an ice cream machine to churn it and add the air, whereas semifreddo, we're going to add so much air at the beginning and then we're going to freeze after.

SETH: I'm guessing that's why we have the stand mixer right here?

ISABEL: Yes, that's why we have a stand mixer.

SETH: Your favorite tool in the kitchen, I'm guessing?

ISABEL: Yes, my favorite tool in the kitchen.

So first we're going to do a little meringue.

I just add a little bit of water.

I'm just looking to warm up the sugar, dissolve it, and bring it to 225 Fahrenheit degrees, when it's going to be soft enough to incorporate into egg whites.

So we're going to have our egg whites ready, and we're going to start whipping this.

So I usually know it's ready because my bubbles are starting to get like, really big and they're starting to like, simmer a little slower.

So I'm going to add them to the egg whites.

SETH: And you want that to go in a little slowly so it's not cooking the egg in there.

ISABEL: Yeah.

Just so it doesn't cook them right away.

And then we're going to bring the speed up to high and whip these until it becomes a meringue.

So our meringue is ready.

We definitely want some stiff peaks.

SETH: No, not just soft peaks.

Stiff peaks.

ISABEL: Not soft peaks.

We want stiff peaks.

It's the ones that stay on it.

And the best way to know when they're ready is when you can put it over your head and nothing will come down.

Sorry.

(laughing) SETH: Gave the wardrobe assistant a little scare there.

ISABEL: I want you to have the whole kitchen experience, you know?

So we're just going to reserve all our meringue.

So our next part, we're going to whip our honey.

SETH: And what kind of honey is this?

ISABEL: Ooh, this is a clover honey from Pennsylvania.

It's delicious.

I really think on this dessert there's two things that are key, and it's quality honey and quality cheese.

SETH: So it's a simple dish, but with top-notch ingredients.

ISABEL: Top-notch ingredients.

Yes.

Farmers work so hard for us.

All we have to do is a little honey, a little this... SETH: Gussy it up a little?

ISABEL: Gussy it up a little and we'll be ready.

So our honey, we're going to whip it with egg yolks.

Egg yolks are another protein that's really good at attaching air.

So now that the honey is coming up to a boil, you can smell it.

It smells so good.

We're going to get our egg yolks starting to whip.

So very slowly we're going to start adding it to the mixer on a small drizzle.

SETH: This is where you really don't want to be cooking your eggs.

ISABEL: Yeah.

Yes.

We don't want scrambled eggs.

I assume you don't want to be covered on hot honey egg yolks, so I'm just going to cover this... SETH: We can't take any chances here today.

ISABEL: To avoid any splashes.

While that's mixing, I want to tell you about one other ingredient, and it's the honeycomb.

SETH: Honeycomb.

ISABEL: Yes.

SETH: Not actual honeycomb.

ISABEL: Not actual honeycomb.

So this is more of a candy.

It's made with sugar that you bring it to caramel and then you add baking soda and salt for seasoning.

Many, many bubbles.

SETH: It's going to have a nice little crunch, I'm guessing.

ISABEL: Yeah, it's going to have another crunch.

Do you want to cut it?

I think you should do it.

Pop it like a karate chop.

SETH: Oh, my God.

ISABEL: So you want all these little pieces on the middle.

Yes.

You'll see, it's a little bitter, it's a little sweet.

SETH: A little bitterness from I think the caramelization process.

You got to be careful.

I'm just going to keep snacking on this.

ISABEL: A bunch of little honeycombeys.

There you go.

Look.

SETH: Beautiful.

ISABEL: I think it's ready, Seth.

SETH: You peeked?

ISABEL: It's ready.

I know this is not hot anymore.

And in egg yolks, you're looking for that sweet ribbon stage.

This is called a pate a bombe.

And our last protein is a heavy cream.

I pre-whipped this for you.

And these we have it at soft peaks.

SETH: All right, so we have stiff peaks, ribboning, and soft peaks.

ISABEL: Yes, you got it.

SETH: All the proteins have to be just right.

ISABEL: Are you a pastry chef?

SETH: No, but I want to be.

(laughing) ISABEL: So for the last step, we're going to fold together all our components.

Our egg whites.

We're going to add our egg yolks, our heavy cream.

And lastly, we're going to fold together the honeycomb.

After that's done, we're going to put it on our blast chiller.

Very, very cold.

It's kind of like a reverse oven.

To assemble the dish, we're going to scoop a little pile of our frozen semifreddo and then we're going to add little pieces of the honeycomb just to add extra texture.

And the last but best part, we're going to shave some 18-month-aged comte cheese on top of it to make it a cheese plate.

SETH: All right, Chef, I cannot wait to dig in.

What are we drinking with this amazing-looking dessert?

ISABEL: I got a little tricky.

We usually would pair this with a wine, like a dessert wine.

Today I sneak a little bit of mezcal for you.

It's my favorite drink and I don't know, I'm from Mexico, so I feel anytime we have a good reason... SETH: I'm not going to complain.

ISABEL: Salud.

SETH: Salud.

All right.

ISABEL: Ready?

We did the hard work already.

It's time to enjoy the fruit of our labor.

It makes you smile.

SETH: Wow, Chef.

I don't know what wizardry is involved there, but the saltiness, the sweetness, that bitterness from the honeycomb, and just how sort of lush and creamy that semifreddo is, that is an incredible dessert.

ISABEL: Thank you so, so much.

SETH: It's got that signature honeycomb crunch to it as well.

This dessert makes some noise too.

ISABEL: Definitely.

I believe that America's favorite flavor is crunchy.

And then it's funny, everybody thinks that the shaved comte on top, it's white chocolate, but that would take it too sweet.

No, no, it's more delicate than that.

SETH: I don't know too much about comte, but it has that nice sort of nutty aged flavor.

ISABEL: Salty, fruity.

Yeah.

That's what those aged cheeses do.

Usually comte's like only four months, but this one we were lucky to get our hands on one that was 18 months aged.

And I think it's so much better.

Just like that saltiness can carry forward through the sweetness and the crunchy on it.

They dance together and they balance each other very well.