MINC PIE ICE CREAM
Sounds unlikely, doesn’t it? My friend, chef Neil Nugent, gave me the recipe and it really is a revelation. So easy, and it’s interesting when people eat it and say, ‘Yes, it does taste like mince pies!’
Serves 6
4 shop-bought quality mince pies (or home-made if you have plenty) 300ml (½pt) double cream 500g (1lb 2oz) Ambrosia Devon Custard (Tetra Pak), refrigerated until cold A food processor and an ice cream maker (pre-frozen according to the manufacturer’s instructions) or an electric whisk Preheat the oven to 140°C/gas mark 1. Firstly, in a medium-sized bowl whip the double cream until it reaches the floppy stage but isn’t too thick.
Pop it into the fridge to chill. Place the mince pies on a baking tray and put them in the oven for 10 minutes to freshen then leave them to go completely cold.
Now chop the cooled mince pies fairly finely by hand (it’s not really worth putting them in a food processor) then in a medium-sized bowl mix them with the cold custard before folding in the whipped cream.
Now pour the mixture into the ice-cream maker and freeze-churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions (you may have to do this in two batches and it will take between 30 minutes and an hour depending on the capacity of your machine).
When the ice cream is soft-set, transfer it to a plastic box and freeze for 2 hours before you serve. If the ice cream is made well in advance and has frozen solid, remove from the freezer for 30 minutes before serving to soften.
NO ICE CREAM MAKER?
If you don’t have an ice cream maker you can still make ice cream.
After you have made up your mixture, transfer it to a lidded plastic box and put it in the coldest part of the freezer for two hours or until the contents become firm at the edges.
At this stage, empty out the box into a mixing bowl and whisk the ice cream with an electric hand whisk to break down the ice crystals.
Return to the plastic box and freeze for another two hours, then repeat the whisking process. Refreeze the ice cream until 30 minutes before you want to serve it.