Mrs B gave me some great recipes which you should find if you search the site. She experiments with all sorts and sells them, a real expert. I puree the fruit from making my fruit liqueurs and use that as the flavouring a lot of the time - the left over gooseberries from gooseberry gin, puree'd to get all the pips out and turned into a basic icecream custard is surprisingly delicious! Ditto redcurrant gin and cassis and .... mmmm. Well, it would be criminal to waste the fruit, wouldn't it?
I use about the same quantity of fruit puree (with residual alcohol) to cream which makes a firm ice-cream that you need to leave out for half an hour before serving. Remember that alcohol makes for a softer icecream, which could be the reason that rum and raisin is so popular?
For an everyday icecream that I can tweak with chocolate or fruit puree or whatever is suitable, I use the following :
Basic ice cream custardMakes about 2 pints. I love this recipe because it’s so easy to remember — two yolks and a quarter-cup of sugar for every cup of dairy. But as long as you stick to the general idea, feel free to switch things up to taste. Want it lighter? Switch some of the cream with milk, or drop an egg yolk or two. Add or take away a little sugar. You get the idea. And, of course, flavor it however you’d like. Now keep in mind that the point of this is that it’s all-purpose — it’s great, but it’s not supposed to be technically perfect. Some flavors are better served with specific ratios of milk and cream, etc. But whatever, leave that to the professionals. We’re here for fun.
200ml milk
70g icing sugar
200ml double cream
2 large egg yolks
pinch salt (dont skip it - the icecream does benefit from it)
Heat milk, about half the sugar, half the cream, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. If steeping for flavor (ie putting something in the mix like vanilla or cardamom), add your ingredients, take off heat, and cover.
Meanwhile, in large-ish bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar.
When the steeping is done, strain or fish out the flavorings and reheat the milk mixture, just until hot. Pour about half of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. (This is called tempering the yolks, and it heats them up evenly without turning them into scrambled eggs.) Pour the milk-yolk mixture back into the pot and cook it over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and making sure you’re scraping the bottom. Cook it until it’s thick enough to coat the back of your spoon: Swipe the spoon with your finger. If it leaves a trail about the width of your finger, it’s ready. Don’t let it boil.
Strain the ice cream base through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. (The straining catches any bits of egg that may have scrambled; it’s kind of optional if you were careful, I tend not to bother.) Stir in the rest of the cream, and let cool. Cover and chill in fridge until cold, at least 6 hours or overnight. (If you really don’t want to wait, dunk the bowl in an ice water bath, stirring, until it’s cold.) At this point, you have what they call crème anglaise, a lovely dessert sauce. If using fruit purees or booze or chocolate chips or fresh fruit pieces, this would be a good time to stir it in. Taste and check for sweetness etc. Sometimes a little lemon juice can spark up the flavours.
Freeze in ice cream maker, according to manufacturer’s directions or your preference.
Pack ice cream in an airtight container and let it set in freezer until firm, at least another 4 hours.