Making my own ice-cream

I bought an ice-maker a few years ago a similar version to this one, with quite a small capacity but enough for 4 to have a good amount for dessert. It was a bargain, of course, but one of those bargains that sit at the back of the cupboard waiting to show their true potential.

Since the weather has heated up and good ice-cream costs a lot then I decided that I would have a go. I found another bargain bought in a charity shop in Dublin:






This book is brilliant. It is Delia's How to Cheat at Cooking for ice-cream. My first attempt at ice-cream I made the custard and the raspberry ripple sauce and don't get me wrong it was lovely but this was a dream. Take one tub of custard, cream and your choice of favour, mix it together, chill and out in the ice-maker. It made wonderful ice-cream and you look like a domestic Goddess which is what I am aiming for but never quite get to.

So far I have made:

Mango and Lime
This is an even simpler version than the book
1 410g can of mango in sugar water
250ml double cream
2 tbsp of lime juice from a bottle
A little extra icing sugar

Blend all the ingredients together adding a little extra sugar if needed (the mixture should always be a bit too sweet because when it freezes it isn't so sweet). Put in the fridge to chill right down (or the freezer as today I was pushed for time). Add to the ice-cream maker and leave churring for about 20-30 minutes. You can sprinkle with toasted coconut or serve with coconut cake to make it more of a dinner party dessert.

Chocolate Ice-Cream
200g ready made custard
150ml double cream
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
70g dark chocolate (only because I like dark chocolate)

Melt the chocolate with the cream and sugar. I do this in the mircowave, do a quick minute blast, stir gently to see how much melting is left to do then do it in much smaller bursts after that. Mix in the custard and chill the whole lot. Add to the ice-maker and 20-30 minutes later you have brilliant ice-cream and much better than any chocolate ice-cream from the shops which can be really powdery. I use Aldi dark chocolate, they have lots of different levels of price but they are all good. Terrible that it is, I do use the cheaper stuff when making things for the children!