Blackcurrant Ice Cream

My sister in law gave me some John Lewis vouchers for my birthday and I had been trying to come up with something both frivolous and useful to spend them on- ice cream maker fit the bill!

There was much debate about what our first ice cream should be. The influence of our local ice cream makers, Jude’s whose ice cream is enjoyed by all on sunny trips to the zoo, won out and blackcurrant was selected. We managed to find enough blackcurrants left on the bush in our garden which has been protected from the birds and children by our rampant raspberry.

Without the prospect of hanging around for hours getting the ice cream out of the freezer to churn making our own ice cream is a quick job, especially when you have helpers.

We used the double blackcurrant ripple recipe from River Cottage although with about 100g less blackcurrants and didn’t do the ripple (because we couldn’t wait that long!). Our ice cream machine delivered a wonderfuly smooth ice cream in under half an hour. It was noisy when churning but as it is quick I can overlook that issue. The ice cream is sharp yet velvety and creamy, perfect in a cone.

And although my children did their very best to make a mess it all came out in the wash.