Honey and Almond Ice-Cream
Chill Out
This easy-as-pie pud is perfect for those who love ice-cream (and their friends) enough to serve home-made rather than store-bought, but haven't the patience for long-fangled recipes. By Lannice Snyman.
There's nothing as stressful as making ice-cream from scratch, unless of course you're the proud owner of a machine that costs gazillions of rands, into which you bung the ingredients and - before you can chill the accompanying bubbly - out comes professional, creamy-dreamy ice-cream for the masses.
Traditional ice-creams involve making custard (with eggs and real cream, no less, which have a nasty tendency to curdle) followed by lengthy into-the-freezer, out-of-the-freezer instructions. Between bouts in the freezer, there is enough whipping and beating to cause real bodily harm like whiplash and tennis elbow.
Fret no more. This is the only ice-cream recipe you'll ever need. It contains soul-soothing ingredients such as eggs, cream, sugar, honey and condensed milk, with the added crunch of almonds. But please use blanched almonds, not the flaked sort that taste like cardboard when they're frozen.
The wondrous thing (beside the taste and seductive texture) is that no re-whipping is required. Just rustle it up, freeze it and - at the magic moment - upend it onto a plate to slice and serve.
Lannice Snyman prepares the pud part of a menu first, getting it done and dusted ahead of time, preferably when there's no-one around to see her licking the bowl and (in this case) the condensed milk tin as well.
Honey and Almond
Ice-Cream
Serves 10 to 12
100g blanched almonds, roughly chopped
410g tin condensed milk
4 eggs, separated
2 T castor sugar
500ml cream
4 T clear, runny honey (approximate
amount)
ICE-CREAM
Roast the almonds in a dry frying pan until golden and aromatic. Set aside to cool.
Beat together the condensed milk and egg yolks in a large bowl. A hand-held whisk is fine for this part of the proceedings.
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg whites stiffly (time to bring out the electric mixer). Beat in the castor sugar very, very well. Spoon onto the condensed milk mixture.
Pour the cream into the bowl in which you've whisked the egg whites, and whip to stiff peaks. Add to the condensed milk and egg whites. Fold everything together gently, using bags of tender loving care and a large metal spoon. The aim is to keep in as much beaten air as possible to ensure light-as-a-feather ice-cream.
Pour a third of the mixture into a large loaf tin or freezer-friendly bowl. Scatter half the roasted almonds on top. Drizzle over half the honey. Add another layer of ice-cream mixture, then the remaining nuts and honey. Finish with the remaining ice-cream mixture. Place the ice-cream in the freezer for about four hours to set.
TO SERVE
Dip the loaf tin or bowl very briefly into hot water and turn the ice-cream out onto a platter. Slice and serve, dipping your knife in hot water so it glides smoothly. Offer extra roasted nuts in a bowl for those who'd like a few more.
