Phew! It’s certainly been a hot few days. Last year, we moaned about the unseasonable cold and rain; this year, it’s no rain and too much heat! So thinking of this, apart from the usual keep in the shade, drink plenty of water etc advice, what better way to cool off than a dish of home made ice cream.
I have always loved ice-cream – not the Mr Whippy soft stuff but proper ice cream with eggs and cream and different tastes. When my brother was little, he used to think “various ices” on a menu was a flavour and there seems to be no ending now to the “various” combinations – you can even have savoury ones for in between courses.
A few years ago, I entered a competition and won an ice cream maker but I also have a few favourites which don’t need one – you just whip it up and freeze. If you haven’t got a maker, and it’s asked for, you can get by with taking the mixture out of the freezer and mashing the ice crystals in for a few times. Keeping it easy for you, though, these are all made without a maker – so you can definitely say you made these all by yourself.
French chocolate Ice cream
- 50g castor sugar
- 4 tablespoons water
- 175g plain chocolate
- 3 egg yolks (save the whites for meringues etc – you can even freeze them!)
- 300ml double cream
Melt the sugar and water in a pan to a syrup. Break up the chocolate into a bowl and add the hot syrup. Mix until smooth and add the yolks. Whip the cream until stiff and add the chocolate, folding it through until all combine. Freeze. Simples!
Lemon Ice Cream
- large lemon, juice and zested
- 200g castor sugar
- 250ml milk
- 250 ml double cream
Combine the zest and sugar. Put the milk in a bowl and stir in the zest mixture until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the lemon juice. Whip the cream until stiff and gently fold into the lemon mixture. Line a loaf tin with cling film overlapping the edges. Pour into the tin, cover over with the edges and freeze. Tip out and slice to serve.
Stem Ginger Ice Cream
- 4 eggs, separated
- 110g icing sugar
- 3 – 4 pieces of stem ginger, finely chopped
- 275ml double cream, stiffly whipped
Whisk the yolks and icing sugar together until pale and very thick. Fold in the ginger and whipped cream. Using a clean whisk, whisk the egg whites into peaks and gently fold into the mixture. Pour into a 1.5 litre plastic container and freeze overnight.
Peach Ice Cream
- 6 ripe peaches
- 600ml pot double cream
- 397g can condensed milk
Put the peaches in a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave for 5 minutes and peel off the skins and remove the stone. Roughly chop them and set aside. Whisk the cream with the condensed milk until thickened slightly and falls in ribbons from the whisk. Add the peach chunks to the cream, stirring gently. Put into a 2 litre plastic container and freeze for 3 – 4 hours or overnight. Take out of the freezer 20 – 30 minutes before you want it.
Variations – using the above cream/condensed milk ratio, once whipped you can add all sorts of extras. Pulped fruit/coffee/chocolate/spice/nuts. It’s probably the easiest recipe on the whole website!
Filo Crisps – something a little different to serve with ice cream. The contrast between crisp biscuit and soft cream is really lovely! Lay a sheet of filo on a baking sheet, brush with melted butter and sift over some icing sugar. Repeat with 2 or more layers on top, finishing with a thick layer of sugar. Cut the filo into small squares and bake in the oven at 200oC for about 10 minutes until golden and crisp.
Sauces to serve with ice cream – sometimes a good plain vanilla ice cream is all that is wanted – and a good sauce will elevate it to ambrosia.
Hot Chocolate Sauce: Put 150g dark chocolate into a pan with 25g castor sugar and 4 tablespoons of water. Melt together over a gentle heat then slowly increase and boil for 2 minutes. Beat in 25g unsalted butter and serve hot.
Melba Sauce: Mash or puree 250g raspberries. Stir in 75g icing sugar and the juice of half a lemon. The sauce can be served warm or cold.
Toffee Sauce: Put 50g butter, 50g brown sugar and 2 tablespoons golden syrup into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the butter and sugar have melted. Bring to the boil and boil hard for 3 – 5 minutes. Cool and stir in 150ml single cream and while still hot pour over ice cream.
Ailsa cooks for One 