Ice-cream and ice-lollies were nearly always where my pocket money disappeared to when I was a child. My favourites ranged from a chocolatey Cornetto or juicy Twister to a less-satisfactory Wibbly Wobbly Wonder or Loop the Loop.
On a hot day, nothing comes close to a cool dose of ice-cream, be it a 99 on the beach or a thick slab of a shop-bought raspberry ripple block sandwiched between two wafers. Ice-cream is nostalgic, and we all have our favourites.
Home-made ice-cream is a treat, and if you have a few hours to spare, give it a go. An ice-cream machine, like all machines, cuts out the physical work, but most of us don’t have one sitting on our countertop waiting for summer to roll around. While the machine is a shortcut, and a handy one at that, it is possible to achieve that creamy quality and soothing soft texture without one. If you don’t have one, set a reminder to give the ice-cream a quick mix once it goes into the freezer and do so once an hour for a few hours throughout the day. That way you will end up with a creamy and delicious ice-cream that really isn’t too much of a hassle, even without a machine.
This week’s recipe is like the Iceberger ice-cream 2.0. It sandwiches a minty fresh ice-cream loaded with nuggets of dark chocolate between two layers of velvety rich chocolate brownie. It’s a perfect cool and creamy hit for when the sun shines.
The brownie mix is baked in a thin slab before slicing in half lengthways into strips and can be stored in the fridge for a few days before assembling. The ice-cream is then piled on top, frozen and cut into individual bars to serve.
If you want to vary the flavours, make a vanilla ice-cream by omitting the mint altogether and replacing with the seeds from two vanilla pods, or swirl through some blueberry compote before freezing, to make a fruity berry ripple. You can also use a decent shop-bought ice-cream if you prefer, about two litres should do it. For a truly decadent treat, dip the finished sliced and frozen bars into melted chocolate before placing back in the freezer.
Once the bars are made they will sit happily in the freezer, well covered, for up to a month.
