Pistachio and clotted cream ice cream

Serves 6

Right on the edge of the medina in Tripoli you will find Balha Glace, an ice-cream parlour famous for ashta and pistachio ice cream. Traditional ashta is clotted cream and is used as the base of many Lebanese desserts. If you can’t find Iranian pistachios, just blitz up any non-salted kernels you can find. — 100g slivered Iranian pistachios

— 150g caster sugar — 250ml whole milk — 2 eggs, whisked — 250ml double cream — 227g tub clotted cream — 50g pistachio kernels, bashed into a fine rubble Put the Iranian pistachios into a food processor with 110g of the sugar. Blend for a few minutes until really fine. Tip into a saucepan and add the milk. Bring to the boil, stirring occasionally, over a low heat.

Whisk the eggs with the remaining sugar in a large mixing bowl until fluffy and pale. Gradually whisk in the milk mixture. Return to the pan and reheat over a low heat, whisking continuously, for 1012 minutes or until the custard is really thick. Pour into a dish and leave to cool completely. Cover with cling film and chill in the fridge for two hours.

Pour the double cream into a large mixing bowl and whisk into soft peaks. Fold in the clotted cream and then the chilled custard. Make sure everything is mixed together thoroughly and evenly.

Churn in an ice-cream maker, then transfer to the freezer. If you don’t have an ice-cream maker, pour the mixture into a freezer-proof container. Freeze for two hours, remove and then whisk with a fork. Return to the freezer and repeat after two hours. Then leave to freeze for 4-6 hours until set.

Remove the ice cream from the freezer about 10 minutes before you want to eat it. Tip the bashed pistachio kernels into a shallow dish. Dip an icecream scoop into hot water and scoop out balls of the ice cream. Tip into the pistachios and roll the balls around so that they are completely covered in the green nuts. Transfer to serving bowls and serve immediately.