Creamy Raspberry Ice Cream

As you might have heard, the weather in Britain has brightened up in rather balmy fashion. I’m sure that in the last week we have experienced our hottest weather of the year, though that isn’t saying very much at all. Such delightful weather declared unequivocally that I must make my first ever attempt at homemade ice cream. So, after procuring a relatively aged ice cream maker (one that works surprisingly well), I set about simultaneously using up our left over raspberries and cooling myself down.

In truth, the ice cream the rickety old machine produced was rather impressive; it was both creamy and very flavoursome. Though, if one wants a little more kick to the raspberry flavouring it may be a good idea to add another 100g of fruit to the mix. Indeed, my aim was to achieve a fairly subtle raspberry flavour and using 300g of fruit accomplishes this just perfectly. The varied world of ice cream making is beckoning and this potential ‘Glacier’ (a chef who prepares frozen desserts) will find it ever so hard to resist its siren song.

Clearly, this recipe would also work for most berries, since all that really changes is their colour and flavour – not their texture. Having said that, strawberries tend to contain a little more water, which means that they may need to be experimented with. Another idea for variation within this recipe is making the classic raspberry ripple ice cream – one may be able to produce such an effect by adding the juiced fruit half way through the machine’s cycle.

As you can see, this recipe falls within the realms of those that are unhealthy. Indeed, the amount of double cream required may put a number of you off. However, it is true that everything is fine if consumed in moderation. Still, my next ice cream recipe will cater for the health-conscious among you; perhaps a lemon sorbet may prove a frightfully good idea.

Creamy Raspberry Ice Cream

Makes roughly 600ml

Ingredients:

• 150ml whole milk

• 90g sugar

• 1 tsp vanilla extract

• 300ml double cream

• 3 egg yolks

• 300g raspberries

Method:

1. Heat together the sugar, milk and vanilla extract in a saucepan until all has dissolved. Set aside. Whisk the eggs and add a little of the milk mixture to them. Stir before adding once more to the saucepan and the rest of the milk. Cook gently to make a thin custard; it should coat the back of a metal spoon. Suspend the double cream in a bowl over an ice bath and whisk in the custard. Refrigerate overnight or until ice cold.

2. To make the raspberry juice, or coulis, simply blend them in a food processor and then pass them through a sieve – retrieve as much juice as possible. Add this to the chilled custard.

3. Prepare and follow the instructions accompanying your ice cream machine – it should take around 30 minutes to freeze. It will keep for 2-3 weeks.

Cost: Good quality ice cream has, in recent years, become somewhat costly – tubs containing this quantity of ice cream can sell for as much as £5-6. Happily, this means that being economical in making a decent ice cream is rather simple. You see, though this recipe isn’t particularly careful, one could still feasibly make it for roughly £3.30 – nearly half the price.