Thursday, June 18, 2009

gelati

Current work: revisions on fairground book
Listening to: Dire Straits
Reading: next on TBR

My name is Kate Hardy and I am an ice cream addict.

I think the worst one was when I was away on business in my ratrace job and persuaded my colleague that we should have dinner in the Haagen Dazs ice cream cafe. Back home, the department secretary (who was dealing with expenses) yelled across the room to me, 'You spent HOW MUCH on ice cream?'

Cue shock-horror from the entire marketing department. In my defence, the bill was lower than if we'd had a meal elsewhere. And it was very, very scrummy.

I used to make ice cream by hand. Though it never lasted long. (I married someone with a similar addiction. We have two children, both of whom have the same affliction.)

And for years I've wanted an ice cream maker.

Floated the idea past the kids yesterday. Verdict: ‘Brilliant. Can we help make it?’ (So that’s 75% of the household in agreement.)

Thanks to lovely commenter Brigitte letting me grill her (and reading reviews online), have decided to go with the sort with a freezing disk as it’s reasonably priced and the disk will fit in the freezer. (The posh Gaggia one, which needs no freezing whatsoever, was the equivalent of two Radley handbags, or two of the gold-and-glass beads for my Pandora bracelet. You can see where this is going, can’t you? Especially as I am in the city on Friday for a radio interview. And I will have to walk past Sonkai. Hmm.)

Rang Lakeland (note, this is on the list of ‘shops in which Kate Hardy is not allowed without responsible adult supervision’. As is House of Fraser. And Sonkai). One ice cream maker in stock. Goody. It has my name on it, ready for picking up tomorrow. B-u-t… I checked and it’s in a Very Big Box. Which means I’m going to need help manoeuvring it to the car.

So I took DH a cup of tea, making kissy noises and being all sweet. He wanted to know what I had done. (Ha. And to think he gets stroppy if I ask that question when he gives me flowers.) Confessed. He has agreed to come and be my muscle man. This is particularly piquant as he claims he is the main (possibly only) person on the ‘responsible adult’ list. (Son is trying to claim he is also on this, cough – I think not. Who forces me into Hotel Chocolat, then? And since when is 12 an adult – even if he IS taller than I am now?) I foresee purchase of oven cleaner, feather duster, new pegs and other such housewifely joys. With son and husband as my bag carriers. Lured with the promise of home-made ice cream.

What I’m really looking forward to involves 0% fat Greek yoghurt and fresh raspberries. Daughter thinks this is a fine idea. Except I need more raspberries because someone raided the fridge when she got home from school - and this is despite having a snack box full of raspberries in her packed lunch. Oink.

So today’s question is: what’s your favourite flavour of (home-made) ice cream? (And all recipes welcome!)

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Okay I confess I have the electric all singing ice cream maker - which is used probably twice a year but SO worth it.

Butterscotch.
With the cream and real custard.

I have no shame..I am sure your family will LOVE the fabulous results. And Lakeland,,, ah, now you are talking.
Enjoy. LOL.

Michelle Styles said...

My favourite flavour is banana. But then it is not really ice cream as such but frozen bananas pureed by the food processor/blender.
It is delicous though.
I used to make strawberry icecream. And I prefer a hand crank ice cream maker. We do have a small one.
And Lakeland...ummm let's just say they deliver...and have delivered for years. And I can remember when they were Lakeland Plastics with only one mecca in Windermere.

Kate Hardy said...

Nina - you would, you foodie, you :o)

Butterscotch. Ohhh. (Are we talking dulce de leche, here? Because that did cross my mind.) And butterscotch cookies to go with it.

Lakeland is wonderful. I swear by their oven cleaner. And I have my eye on that flat 'bottom of oven saver' thing (mainly because daughter likes baked sweet potatoes and they always leak a bit).

Kate Hardy said...

Michelle - thanks, that's worth a try.

Strawberry ice cream is a favourite here, too.

Have you seen those ice cream maker balls? Looks fun, but 30 minutes playing... Sorry, I'd rather be writing and "earning" my treat.

I remember them as Lakeland Plastics, too, and their mail order catalogue. When they opened the shop in Norwich, I was SOOOO pleased.

Lacey Devlin said...

Oh my gosh you've corrupted me! I want ice cream! I want an ice cream maker! I want to work with you so I have an excuse to eat ice cream for dinner! I can't believe I never have to be honest it's something that's right up my alley. Perhaps next week...

Liz Hanbury said...

I love home-made ice-cream!

Kate, you're in for a treat *g* I have the same ice-cream maker from Lakeland - which is great BTW - and I bought a spare freezing disc/bowl too. That way, I always have a disc in the freezer, primed and ready for action LOL.

My favourite recipe? It has to be Delia's Rhubarb Crumble Ice Cream.
http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/rhubarb-crumble-ice-cream,1277,RC.html
Probably a zillion calories per mouthful, but it's worth it ...

Anonymous said...

Mango & lime. It's another Delia:-

http://www.deliaonline.com/recipes/lime-and-mango-ice-cream,1890,RC.html

I've successfully made it using whipped cream instead of creme fraiche. The mangoes do need to be sweet and super-ripe.

mpe

Donna Alward said...

I was all set to say vanilla - we used to make it in the winter and it was creamy yellow rather than the nasty "white" version you buy in the grocery. My mum would make a sauce of mashed strawberries and sugar for the top.

But then Nina had to be the keener and use the words butterscotch and...gasp!...Custard.

I ADORE custard.

Sigh.

I expect a full report.

Miss Bougie said...

Here Kate, to indulge your sweet tooth.
Some of my favourite recipes.

Yogurt Vanilla ice cream
375g yogurt
175g cream
90g sugar
10g vanilla flavoured sugar

Whip the cream with the sugar and vanilla flavoured sugar until soft peaks form. Fold in the yogurt. Pour mixture into the ice cream maker bowl through the hole in the lid while machine is running.

You can use plain, reduced fat or greek yogurt. Single or double cream, depends whether bikini season is before or after your treat...

Apricot and Peach ice cream
150g apricots
150g peaches
(fruit weighed with skin but stoned)
125g sugar
1 tbs lemon juice
200 ml full fat milk

Mix the fruit with sugar and lemon juice. Blend in the milk.
Pour the mixture into the bowl of ice maker through the hole in the lid with the machine switched on.

This recipe will work with other fruit too.

Yogurt Fruit ice cream
100g raspberries
100g strawberries
250 g yogurt
150g sugar
1 tbs lemon juice

Blend fruit with the sugar and lemon juice. Mix fruit puree with yogurt and pour mixture into bowl through hole in the lid, while the motor is running.

Now my favourite recipe, not to be indulged in every day...

Banana ice cream
300g ripe peeled banana
juice of half a lemon
115g sugar
1 tsp vanilla flavoured sugar
150 ml double cream, not whipped
50 ml milk

Blend banana, sugar, vanilla sugar and lemon juice. Add cream and milk and mix well.
Pour mixture into the ice maker bowl through the hole in the lid with the machine switched on.


Enjoy...

Jan Jones said...

Until you have tasted home-made liquorice ice cream you haven't lived.

You do have to eat it with your eyes closed, however, because it is the same colour as a White wash which has been boiled with the addition of one black sock

Kate Hardy said...

Lacey - be my guest. We're starting with strawberry :o)

Kate Hardy said...

Elizabeth - lovely to see you here. And what a fantastic recipe. (After strawberry, I was planning rhubarb...) Thanks for sharing.

Kate Hardy said...

MPE - another flavour that sounds gorgeous. Thanks for sharing. (I also like prawns with lime, ginger and mango - there's a recipe on my website...)

Kate Hardy said...

Donna - I adore custard, too. Daughter saw this page. 'Ooh. Custard. We could do a rhubarb and custard ice cream...'

And proper vanilla... Mmm.

Kate Hardy said...

Brigitte - thank you, these look scrummy. (My disk is in the freezer. Just waiting for tomorrow night...) I'm going to pick up the yoghurt and extra raspberries on the way home.

Kate Hardy said...

Jan - liquorice? REALLY?

Mmm, I can imagine colour might be a problem.

Y'know, I'm going to have to do a gelatiera book. I know Ally Blake's done one (but she tells me it doesn't involve the kind of ice cream scene she thinks I would write, bless her).

Still think one of the best ice cream scenes ever was in one of Jill Shalvis's Temptations. She's a legend.

Diane said...

I don't believe I've ever, ever had home made ice cream - and my dad a descendent of an Italian ice cream making family too ... we thought they were from Naples, turns out they were from Rome.

But I'm boring vanilla in most cases, so I see why HM ice cream should be any different.

Kate Hardy said...

Diane - tut, tut. Especially when it's in your blood. (And it's nicer than the whippy stuff, too.)

Am going to experiment with vanilla but I think that will have to be a proper custard-based one. I can feel my arteries saying, 'Kate, NOOOOOOO....'

Pizza Bun said...

Ice cream is my favorite! It's like a little cloud from heaven!