Strawberry icecream with lemon verbena shortbread
Play around with biscuit f lavours – lemon zest, rosemary, thyme and lavender are all delicious.
Makes around 30 bite-sized biscuits and enough ice-cream for 8–10 people For the ice-cream:
250g strawberries, hulled and chopped in half
600ml double cream
1 x 397g tin condensed milk 3 tbsp strawberry jam
For the biscuits:
250g unsalted butter, softened 140g caster sugar, plus extra for topping
1 egg yolk
300g plain flour
2 tbsp lemon verbena leaves, finely chopped
1 Start by making the ice-cream.
Put the strawberries in a blender and whizz them up to make a purée.
2 Set a sieve over a large bowl and tip the purée into the sieve. Press the pulp through the mesh so you’re left with a seed-free sauce in the bowl.
3 In another bowl, whisk the double cream and condensed milk until they form soft peaks. Stir in the strawberry sauce and the strawberry jam.
4 Spoon everything into a tub and pop it in the freezer to set for at least 6 hrs, but ideally overnight.
5 For the biscuits, cream together the butter and sugar until pale. Add the egg yolk and beat well.
6 Fold in the flour and verbena leaves, then bring together to form a dough. Be light and gentle in your touch here – heavy hands and over-kneading will make for tough biscuits. Knead lightly and briefly to combine, then shape into two firm sausages (I do this by rolling them in clingfilm).
Chill for at least 30 mins.
7 When ready, preheat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Slice the sausage into rounds about 3mm thick, sprinkle each biscuit with a little sugar, then bake for 8-10 mins on a lined tray. They spread a little so leave space between each biscuit. Allow to cool on the tray before moving.
8 To serve, remove the ice-cream from the freezer and allow to soften for a few minutes. Scoop into bowls and arrange a biscuit or two on the side, along with a fresh strawberry if you have any spare.
Cook’s note: This serves quite a few. For smaller crowds, just make the same amount and it will keep for another time. You can also freeze one of the biscuit sausages to thaw and bake when you need it.