Christmas Pudding Ice Cream

I am embarrassed to even call this a recipe really, but if any of you still have a lump of Christmas Pud lurking in the fridge, then this is a great way to use it up.  You simply chop or crumble the pud and mix it with GOOD bought vanilla ice cream - allow it to soften a little.  Season with some cinnamon and rum or brandy to taste (not too much booze as this inhibits the freezing), pile it back into the ice cream box or little ramekins if you are feeling precious.  Return to the freezer and then serve in scoops or turn out onto a plate if you went down the ramekin route.  Delicious!  Of course, it helps if you have a really good Crimbo pud to start with - we make our own each year.  Perhaps I should finally blog the recipe on here later on?

Rhubarb and Orange Ice Cream

I love home-made ice cream, but as I only have one of the machines that need to be pre-frozen, it is sometimes a bit of a palavar.  So, this 'cheat's version is a great alternative, as you simply add the ingredients to a tub of slightly-softened, good quality bought vanilla ice cream.  I used a litre tub of Yeo Valley vanilla but go for your favourite.  I started by roasting a pack of Yorkshire forced rhubarb, which is bang in season now.  Please don't succumb to the Dutch stuff, support an old, traditional industry.  Check out Oldroyd's website for a fascinating history of this product.

Anyway, cut a pack, about 4 long, slender, shocking pink sticks, into chunks and put in a single layer if possible in a baking dish.  Now, zest an orange, and stir into 3 tablespoons of caster sugar, and sprinkle over the rhubarb.  Juice the orange and pour over the sugary chunks.  Bake at 160C for 20-25 minutes until the rhubarb is tender and the whole thing is lovely and juicy.  Allow to cool.  Take out your ice cream from the freezer and allow to soften for 10 minutes.  Now, either tip into a food processor with the cold cooked rhubarb and juices and blitz in short sharp buzzes until rippled through, or roughly blend the rhubarb until still a bit chunky, tip the ice cream into a bowl and fold the blended rhubarb through.  Either way, Pour the ice cream into a lidded plastic container and return to the freezer sharpish so it can all settle and freeze again.  Serve with more roasted rhubarb and some crisp little biscuits - shortbread, perhaps, or I like Bonne Maman Butter Galettes for a complete cheat's dessert!

Lemon Ice-Cream Tart with Gingernut Crust [#186]

This was a delicious, refreshing dessert to have after an excellent roast chicken. It was creamy, yet sharp and lemony, with a great hot, gingery crust made from ginger oatmeal cookie crumbs mixed with chunks of preserved ginger. Dead easy to make too. I halved the recipe, though, as a pint of cream was too much, and this is still enough to feed six people, so we will indulge on another couple of occasions throughout the week - well, it is nearly Christmas! This would be worth making a few days in advance of a meal and keeping stashed away in the freezer for a great, simple pud, perhaps as an alternative for Christmas Pudding haters.

Poached Pears with Ice-cream and Chocolate Sauce [#162]

Some nice little early season English Conference Pears are currently poaching in a lemon and vanilla syrup, ready to be served with Haagen Dazs Praline Ice-cream (Nigel was very specific about the flavour) and a shot of inky chocolate sauce using 85% Lindt. This is a simple version of Poires Belle Helene but nothing wrong with that! The classics are the best. This will follow a wonderful braised brisket, based on a recipe from Tamasin Day-Lewis's new book Supper for a Song which has just been published and is full of very promising recipes. I do like her books - she is a bit wordy and flowery, but an excellent cook.

Raspberry Vanilla Ice-Cream Cake [#136]

Dead simple - line a loaf-tin or brownie pan with thinly sliced all-butter madeira cake, then raspberries, then good vanilla ice cream (I used Green and Black's), more raspberries, then a final layer of thinly sliced madeira cake. I sprinkled the cake slices with maraschino liqueur in order to add a bit of extra moisture. Cover with clingfilm and return to the freezer until ready to eat, in slices, with icing sugar over the top. Next time, I might make some raspberry puree to go with it, just for a bit more welly! The online recipe, by the way, doesn't specify the raspberry addition - I would definitely add them, for colour, flavour and texture.

Orange Yoghurt Water Ice [#128]

I should have started this sooner! I was hoping that my ice-cream maker would do its duty, but it was pathetic today - it is only one of those ones you freeze overnight, and it didn't have enough welly for either the quantity or the texture for this ice (not at all creamy - a sorbet really with a bit of yoghurt). We had to resort to a plastic box in the freezer, and were only able to scrape together a few scoops from around the edges tonight - my fault, and it will be fully frozen tomorrow. We served it, as Nigel suggests, with slices of fresh peach and also some luscious ripe cherries from Kent. The ice was tart and refreshing - I expect it would be totally marvellous on a blisteringly hot July day, but it is rainy, windy and chilly outside - well, we can dream!

Strawberry Water Ice [#113]

Deliciously simple recipe. Pureed strawberries, light sugar syrup, lemon juice. Mix. Freeze, stirring occasionally. Eat. No online recipe but it is hardly necessary.

Strawberries with Fromage Blanc [#102]

I know this just looks like strawberries and cream, but I promise you, this little recipe is so much better. Essentially, it is double cream, softly whipped and mixed with equal quantities of Greek or thick natural yoghurt, some sugar to sweeten lightly, and then a whisked egg white folded through. Leave this to chill for an hour and you'll then have billowing clouds of light creaminess to serve with your strawberries - preferably good ones from a pick-your-own or allotment, not the supermarket. Lovely and light finish to a meal of chicken and chorizo kebabs and roasted vegetable couscous.

Lemon Ice Cream [#83]

Actually, lemon meringue ice cream, and easily made, consisting of softly whipped double cream, Greek yoghurt, lemon curd, lemon zest and juice , and bought meringues broken into large chunks. Only needs a light stirring as it freezes, so no ice cream machine needed. Lovely and sprightly end to our Bank Holiday feast of asparagus and goats' cheese tart, and roast chicken with garlic and pea pilaf. Sadly, another recipe with no official online presence, so if this doesn't make you go out and get the book, I don't know what will! The flat is full of the fragrance of lilac from our huge trees at the end of the garden - spring has sprung!