dsc_07961Last weekend, we invited my husband’s family round for dinner, which was roast chicken with potatoes and carrots from the vegetable box. I have never seen such dirty vegetables! You can tell I’m a city girl :) For dessert, I made some ice cream using the neglected ice cream maker (which is wonderful, btw). I had planned to use the Lemon and Ginger Ice cream recipe from the Rachel Allen book, but we didn’t have any creme fraiche and besides, I prefer custard-based ice creams. The only problem is that making custard yourself is a big hassle and very off putting. It prevents any kind of spontaneous ice cream making too, as you have to let it cool for at least 6 hours before you can even churn the ice cream, and then put it in the freezer to set.

So, I cheated and bought a tub of fresh custard from the supermarket. I have tried it with the good quality stuff before e.g. Taste the Difference, Finest etc and just added some milk to make it go a bit further. This time, I added a small can of Carnation milk which gave it a rich, creamy texture without losing the custardy flavour. Its my new favourite ice cream base!  The finished ice cream was sweet and tangy from the lemon curd (homemade, but you can buy instead) with a tiny hint of spiciness from the ginger.

Recipe – Lemon and Ginger Ice Cream

300ml tub of shop-bought custard
Small tin of evaporated milk
100ml lemon curd, or to taste
2 chunks of preserved stem ginger
2 tablespoons of syrup from stem ginger jar
Mix the custard, evaporated milk, syrup and lemon curd. Chop ginger finely into cubes and add to the mixture. Churn in the ice-cream maker according to instructions.
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