The Domestic

A recipe for decluttering

Serves 8-10 For the ice-cream, you will need:

• 4 egg yolks

• 100g caster sugar

• 175ml water

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 700ml cream

For the salted caramel swirl, you will need:

• 150g caster sugar or granulated sugar

• 75ml water

• 25g butter

• 100ml cream

• A good pinch of salt

1 Put a tub with a lid or a bowl that will hold 1.5 litres of ice-cream into the freezer.

2 Next, put the egg yolks in a mixing bowl, or into the bowl of a stand mixer, and whisk them until they are light and fluffy.

3 Put the caster sugar and the water in a saucepan and place it over a medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. When the sugar has completely dissolved, increase the heat and boil the syrup until it reaches the ‘thread’ stage — this is about 106°C-113°C/223°F-236°F on a sugar thermometer, but you don’t need to have a sugar thermometer. The mixture will look thick and syrupy and, when a metal spoon is dipped in, the last drops of the syrup will form thin threads.

4 As soon as the thread stage is reached, pour the boiling syrup in a steady stream onto the whisked egg yolks, whisking all the time. If I’m making the ice-cream using a stand mixer, I normally use a hand whisk to add the syrup, otherwise it can splash around the sides of the bowl and harden.

5 Once all the boiling syrup is whisked in, add the vanilla extract and continue to whisk until the mixture becomes a thick, creamy, white mousse and will hold a figure of eight (see Rachel Recommends, left); this will take about 8-10 minutes.

6 Put the cream in a separate bowl and whisk it until it reaches the soft-peak stage. If it’s too stiff, the

ice-cream will become grainy; if it’s too soft, the ice-cream will separate into two layers when it is frozen.

7 Now fold the softly whipped cream into the mousse, and pour the mixture into the container you had chilling in the freezer. Cover the container and put it back in the freezer for an hour while you make the salted caramel swirl.

8 To make the salted caramel swirl, put the caster sugar or the granulated sugar, whichever you’re using, the water and the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Stir as the mixture heats up to dissolve the sugar. Once the sugar has dissolved, turn the heat up to high and cook, uncovered, for about 6-8 minutes until the mixture turns a rich toffee colour. Do not stir the pan — although you might need to swirl the pan occasionally if you see the mixture turning golden on one side of the pan before the other. Once it is a rich golden-toffee colour, take it off the heat for a moment and stir in the cream and a pinch of salt to taste. Allow the salted caramel sauce to simmer gently on a low heat until it is dissolved and smooth, then take it off the heat and allow it to cool.

9 When the ice-cream has been in the freezer for an hour, take it out and uncover it. Drizzle the cooled salted caramel swirl over the ice-cream. Using a fork, swirl the salted caramel through the ice-cream so that it’s rippled and not evenly mixed in. Place it back in the freezer until it is frozen.