Well after last week’s menu featuring Pavlova, I had to do these recipes next. Pavlova requires six egg whites meaning conveniently that you have six beautiful egg yolks left over, just pleading to be made into a delicious, velvety smooth ice cream! And as if I needed any more excuses, it is summer and you can’t have summer without ice cream! Ok, enough said, I am more than convinced.
Although the thought of making ice cream can be daunting, it really isn’t bad. I will be honest however and say that if you have an ice cream maker it certainly makes life a lot easier when it comes to freezing and churning the ice cream, however it can still be done without one, it just requires a little extra work.
There are two pieces of advice I can give when it comes to making ice cream. The first is to make sure that when it comes to stirring the custard, you can allow yourself up to 20 minutes of complete peace and quiet - in other words, absolutely no interruptions. With that said you must also not be in an inpatient mood as it does take time. Instead you want to be in the sort of tranquil mood where you are happy to stand and serenely stir the custard watching it slowly change from a thin liquid to a pale yellow, velvety smooth, custard.
The second piece of advice is, although eating ice cream is probably at its most appealing on a hot summer day, making it on a hot summer day certainly isn’t. I’ve fallen into that trap a couple of times and each time I think to myself, why on earth am I standing at a hot oven constantly stirring away and therefore surrounding myself in heat for 20 minutes when I’m already hot!! If you have no choice and are at the mercy of the weather then I can only suggest making it early in the morning, or late in the evening when it isn’t quite so hot. Of course if you are one of the lucky few that have air conditioning in your home, you can ignore this second piece of advice completely and I can be very jealous of you!
So there you go – advice dispensed! Having said that, I also have to say that really making ice cream isn’t that complicated and with the exception of needing uninterrupted time, it is very relaxing and definitely rewarding.
When making ice cream for the first time I suggest starting with a classic Vanilla ice cream. That way you can get used to the recipe and make sure it works for you and that it tastes good. My mum always says that you can tell the sign of a good ice cream judged by the quality of the vanilla….. While I do have to agree with her, I am still more of a decadent chocolate ice cream kinda’ gal! Having said that though, it is definitely a very good starting point so without further ado here it is - my recipe for a really good vanilla ice cream!
