Naughty But Nice!
Home made ice-cream is a very special treat and not nearly as difficult to make as you might imagine. There is a whole range of recipes available, but one of the easiest is made using a basic egg custard, to which you can add almost any type of fresh fruit puree.
Soft fresh home grown raspberries, strawberries or blackberries do not need to be cooked – simply puree them in the processor and add to the basic custard. This is a great way of using up summer fruit, as ice-cream can be made and stored in the freezer for use later.
Dairy Ice-Cream
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Method
1.) Bring the milk and the vanilla pod to the boil, take off the heat and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
2.) Beat the egg and sugar together until pale and creamy. Pour on the heated milk and strain back into the saucepan.
3.) Cook the custard gently to thicken, but do not boil.
Chill, pour into a freezer container and freeze for two hours.
4.) Turn frozen custard into a chilled bowl and mash with a fork or flat whisk.
5.) Lightly whip the cream and fold into the mashed custard. Return to the freezer to become firm.
Variations
This basic recipe can be varied to suit your own tastes and preferences by, for example, adding 150g (4-6 oz) plain chocolate, when heating the milk; stirring 4 tablespoons of Camp Coffee into the custard; or by stirring 200g (8oz) of any type of fresh or frozen fruit puree along with 25g (1oz) icing sugar into the cooled custard.
Chocolate Chip Ice-Cream
Serves: 4-6
Ingredients
Method
1.) Bring the milk and the vanilla pod to the boil, take off the heat and leave to stand for 15 minutes.
2.) Beat the two egg yolks and two eggs together with the sugar until pale and creamy. Pour on the heated milk and strain back into the saucepan.
3.) Cook the custard gently to thicken, but do not boil. Leave to cool.
4.) Break the chocolate chip cookies into small pieces and stir into the custard, together with the yogurt.
5.) Pour into a freezer container and freeze for four hours, removing from the freezer at one hour intervals to mash with a fork or flat whisk to prevent ice crystals forming (this is where an ice-cream maker is useful).
6.) Before serving, transfer it to the fridge for one hour.
Brown Bread Ice-Cream
Serves: 4-8
Ingredients
Method
1.) Place the breadcrumbs, demerara sugar and hazelnuts on a heatproof plate under a pre-heated grill to brown, then set aside to cool.
2.) Whish the egg whites until stiff, then gradually whisk in the caster sugar.
3.) Lightly whip the double cream and fold two-thirds of the cream into the whisked egg whites with the breadcrumb mixture.
4.) Turn into a 1.2 litre (2pt) freezer dish and freeze until solid.
5.) To serve, turn onto a serving plate and decorate with remaining fresh cream and hazelnuts.
Note: this recipe contains raw egg whites and nuts – these are not recommended for very young children or the elderly or anyone suffering from a nut allergy.
