It's been gorgeous weather recently, so good that I've indulged in another gadget that I won't use nearly as much as I should and that will prevent me from ever selling my house as I realise I'll never have as much cupboard space as I do now; an ice cream maker. I remember my mother buying one of these in what must have been the early nineties and making mars bar ice cream for us. I found the flavour idea for this on pinterest then adapted a BBC Good Food recipe for the base custard. The result is very good and I'll update with some pictures when I've actually served it to people.
I should probably start by saying that I’ve made far too
much of this for a dinner party of four people.
Half quantities would be LOADS.
Seriously. Half everything. The Very Tolerant Boyfriend will be eating
this for ages. I am not sure that’s a
terrible thing as it is very nice. Also,
it’s too much to fit in an ice cream maker in one go, so it had to be made over
two days. Have I mentioned half would be
fine?
600ml carton double cream
600ml full fat milk
230g golden caster sugar
Vanilla Essence
6 large free-range egg yolks
¼ cup Bourbon
120g pecans (oven roasted in butter and salt)
Take the Pecan, toss in some melted butter, scatter over
some sea salt and pop on a lined baking tray in the oven for 30 minutes at 180C.
Ensure that the canister from the ice cream machine is
properly frozen (at least 24 hours, don’t be tricked into thinking it’ll be ok
after 2 hours. It won’t be)
Mix together the cream, milk, vanilla and bourbon in a pan
and bring to the edge of the boil.
Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the rest of the sugar and
beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has
thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the
beaters. Using a measuring jug, scoop out about half of the cream mixture and
beat into the egg yolks to slacken them. Reheat the cream until it just comes
to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.
Return the whole lot to the heat and cook, stirring all the
time with a wooden spoon. The mixture
will thicken to a custard and stay separated on the back of a spoon when
tested. Allow the mixture to cool,
stirring occasionally to prevent a skin forming. Put in the fridge overnight so it is properly
cooled.
Add to the ice cream maker and churn for 30-40 mins. Once the ice cream is done, stir through the
pecans and put in a sealed container in the freezer until required.
