There is no doubt that there are some wonderfully delicious ice creams available to buy in the supermarkets but, slightly on a par with growing your own veg, there is something deeply satisfying about making you own. Not to mention the fun of playing around with flavours and perhaps more importantly, regulating the amount of sugar you include.
This recipe is based on a very old one out of an old seventies classic ‘the Hamlyn all Colour Cookbook’. It has stood the test of time and I have just updated it a bit, using creme fraiche as well as double cream, reducing the sugar content (quite considerably!) and adding in honey as an additional sweetener. Here I am using blackberries – any frozen berries will do and in the summer, when fresh berries are abundant just use whatever you can find or pick. Bear in mind, however that the blackberries that you find in the hedgerow are not the same as the cultivated variety which I find make much better eating. That isn’t exactly relevant in April but if, like me, you have a stockpile in the freezer leftover from Autumn foraging, this is a good way to use them up. Otherwise the supermarkets are full of useful packs of frozen fruit which are perfect to use here. Play around with the flavours here and just use this as a basic guide. Roll on sunshine!!
Makes about approx a litre
500g bag of frozen blackberries, defrosted
75g caster sugar
Rind of two oranges (optional but nice)
2 large eggs
2 – 3 tablespoons runny honey
125ml double cream
150ml creme fraiche (full fat is essential)
Put the blackberries and 50g of the sugar in a saucepan and heat gently until the juices start to run. Bring up to a simmer (important to cook the berries as they will be re-frozen) and after a couple of minutes, pull off the heat. Add in the grated orange rind, stir well and then strain, reserving the berries. At this point you could sieve out some of the seeds. I don’t particularly mind them but you may prefer a seed free ice cream. Put the juices back in the saucepan and simmer hard for a few minutes until you have a syrupy consistency. Pour back over the berries, deserted or otherwise, stir and leave to cool.
Separate the eggs and put the whites into a clean bowl. Put the double cream into another bowl. Whisk the egg yolks very well until pale and thick. Whisk the double cream until the soft peak stage (be careful not to overdo it). Whisk the whites until firm, adding the remaining sugar until glossy and at the stiff peak stage. Fold two tablespoons of the honey into the berries. Fold the cream into the egg yolks, followed by the creme fraiche and the berries. Taste and adjust the amount of honey you have added according to taste. Then finally fold in the the whisked egg whites.
If you have an ice cream machine, turn the whole thing into it and churn until frozen. Otherwise just put into a tub and if you remember take it out every now and then and whisk well with a fork to break up any ice crystals. This ice cream is much more forgiving than the traditional custard base and this whisking is not as essential, but does make a difference to the final result.
If you like you can keep back a few tablespoonfuls of the berry mix to use as a sort of sauce, or to marble through at the end.
Remember to take your ice cream out of the freezer and give it half an hour in the fridge before serving.
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