Lemon, Honey and Basil Ice Cream - it'd be a crime to miss it !

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Some years ago a very pleasant trip to visit a friend in France took a rather strange twist that involved a very unique (and ever so slightly stolen) car, being fingerprinted by French police (who also offered great advice on where to dine in the vicinity), and a lemon. Long story.  I’ll tell you when you come round to visit.

I was given the lemon, as a souvenir of this strange adventure, which I took back to Ireland and made into ice cream. It was the first ice cream I ever made and was a convoluted process. Was it the most exciting ice cream I’ve ever tasted? No. But it served to send me on a quest for a lemony ice cream that would create for my taste buds a little of the excitement of that trip, and here it is.

Strictly speaking, this is a frozen yoghurt but because it is Greek yoghurt it is every bit as satisfyingly creamy as an ice cream. It is also dead easy to make. With such a high juice content, you really do need an ice cream maker for this. Note: This ice cream is for grown-ups.

For 4 - 6 servings you will need...
... an ice cream maker

Zest of 2 lemons, grated

Zest of 1 orange, grated

175mls fresh lemon juice

75mls fresh orange juice

10g fresh basil leaves

140g runny honey

550g Greek yoghurt

¼ teaspoon sea salt 

1                    Place everything except the Greek yoghurt in a small saucepan and bring to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat and leave to cool. Strain to remove the zest and basil leaves. Leave to cool, then chill in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.

2                    When chilled, mix with the Greek yoghurt and salt and churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. When the mixture has thickened to ice cream, transfer it to a freezer container and place in the freezer for 24 hours. Although it is ready to eat straight away, the flavours develop further if you can bear to wait until the following day. Before serving, allow to soften in the fridge for 20-25 minutes.

Taste-tester verdict: "Gasp!" but in a good way. 

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Strawberry and Rose Petal Ice Cream – practically Italian!

Pin It I cannot resist a car boot sale ... ‘one woman’s junk is another woman’s treasure’ and all that. 

Take time to stop and smell eat the roses!

My pasta maker came from a car boot sale. It was in mint condition. I figured that by the time I’d rolled out a few yards of fettucini, I’d be practically Italian.  Then I discovered that soft Irish flour - so fantastic for bread and cakes - is rubbish for making pasta. I packed the pasta maker back into its box and brought it to a charity shop.

My coffee machine came from a car boot sale. It looked brand new. I am a tea drinker, but I fancied myself a barista. I could turn out a few foaming cappuccini or a couple of gallons of espresso, and hey presto, I’d be practically Italian. One teeny problem... there were no instructions. I muddled through and drank a lot of coffee. That week I was WIDE AWAKE. Then I left the cap on the steamer and blew the damn thing up. Do you know how hard it is to remove damp coffee grinds from the ceiling?!

A spoonful of sugar does wonders for strawberries

I was so proud of myself when I managed to walk past a bloke selling an ice cream maker. Sitting innocently in the centre of his stall, it wore a price tag - €2. “It must be broken,” I thought. “I’m not taking that gorgeous retro Gelatiera home.” Later, as I was leaving, the man called me over. He’d seen me eyeing the ice cream maker. He assured me it was working.  “Tell you what,” he said, “I’d murder a coffee but I can’t leave my stall. Get me a coffee and you’ve got yourself a deal.”

I use the simplest of ingredients but if you tasted the magical ice creams this funny little machine is capable of churning out, you’d think I was practically Italian.

Strawberry and Rose Petal ice cream is my latest experiment. Because it is made from Greek yoghurt, fresh fruit and honey, it can be considered breakfast! ;-)

Rose Water adds a delicate floral note to this ice cream

For 4 - 6 servings you will need...

250g fresh strawberries, quartered
1 tablespoon caster sugar
550g Greek yoghurt
120g runny honey
10g fresh fragrant red or pink rose petals, unsprayed
3 tablespoons rose water

1                  Sprinkle the caster sugar over the quartered strawberries and set aside for about 30 minutes. Then purée 200g of the strawberries and pass the purée through a sieve to remove the seeds.

2                  Place the yoghurt, strawberry purée, honey and rosewater in your ice cream maker and churn until thick and smooth – about 30 minutes or so though this will vary according to the make and model you use. (If you don’t have an ice cream maker, mix the ingredients well and place in a freezer proof container. Stir well every 30 minutes to break up any large ice crystals. Repeat until the ice cream is smooth and thick.)

3                 Chop the remaining strawberries into small pieces.

4                 Wash the rose petals and pat dry with kitchen paper. Snip off and discard the white portion of each petal (the part where it joined the stem) and tear roughly into pieces. Fold the strawberries and rose petals into the ice cream and transfer to a freezer container. Cover and freeze until required. Ice cream matures so while this is ready to eat straight away, it is even better if you leave it overnight.

Ahh days of wine and roses...

Tip: Remove from the freezer a few minutes before serving to allow it to soften.

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