Desserts for a sweet taste of summer

Raspberry and mango ice cream (serves 6)

Prep time: 30 mins
Freezing time: overnight

Ingredients
75g cashew nuts
3 tbsp honey
250g frozen mango pieces
75g frozen raspberries
500g vanilla ice cream, softened
fresh or frozen raspberries, to garnish

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180°C. Place cashew nuts on a baking tray and toast for 4-5 minutes. Toss with honey then return to oven for 4-6 minutes, tossing frequently. Turn out on to a lined baking sheet and leave to set. Once firm, chop into pieces.
2. Blitz frozen mango chunks in a blender until smooth. Place ice cream in a bowl, add raspberries and gently mix.
3. To assemble, scatter half the cashew nuts in a loaf tin. Top with mango purée, then sprinkle over remaining cashew nuts. Add ice cream and raspberry mixture and pack down firmly. Cover loaf tin with cling film and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight.
4. To serve, remove cling film, dip loaf tin into cold water and turn out on to a serving platter. Garnish with raspberries.

Cassata (serves 12)

Prep time: 25 mins
Freezing time: overnight

Ingredients
250g glazed fruit, chopped
150ml pineapple juice
4 eggs, separated
100g caster sugar
250ml cream
100g sugared almonds, chopped
2 litres vanilla ice cream, softened

Method:
1. Soak glazed fruit in pineapple juice.
2. Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add half the sugar and beat until stiff peaks form.
3. Whisk yolks with remaining caster sugar until light and creamy. Add cream and fold mixture into egg whites using a metal spoon.
4. Drain fruit, mix half with almonds and fold into cream mixture.
5. Spoon alternate layers of ice cream and cream mixture into two loaf tins. Cover
both with cling film and freeze overnight.
6. To serve, remove cling film, turn out on to a platter and top with remaining glazed fruit.

Ice cream terrine (serves 6-8)

Prep time: 40 mins
Freezing time: overnight

Ingredients
2 litres vanilla ice cream, softened
250g Turkish delight, roughly chopped, plus extra for garnishing
100g pistachio nuts, roughly chopped
15ml rose water
125g fresh or frozen raspberries, for garnishing

Method:
1. Line a 20cm x 20cm tin with cling film. Mix ice cream with Turkish delight, nuts and rose water.
2. Spoon mixture into tin and freeze overnight.
3. To serve, turn out carefully, remove cling film and garnish with raspberries and extra Turkish delight.

Basic vanilla ice cream with variations (makes 1.2 litres)

Prep time: 45 mins
Freezing time: at least 4 hours

Ingredients
500ml full-fat milk
500ml thick cream
2 vanilla pods
12 large egg yolks
100g caster sugar

Method:
1. Pour milk and cream into a pan over a medium heat. Cut vanilla pods open lengthwise and scrape out seeds. Add pods and seeds to milk and cream.
2. Meanwhile, beat egg yolks and caster sugar together until light and fluffy.
3. Remove cream and milk mixture from heat as soon as it starts to boil and pour a third of it into egg yolk mixture while continuously beating. Pour everything back
into leftover cream and milk mixture and cook on a very low heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon until custard starts to thicken. (To know when it is ready, dip spoon into custard and draw a line across back of spoon with a knife. If line holds its shape, it’s ready.)
4. Once cooked, remove pan from heat and pour custard through a sieve into a clean mixing bowl. Leave to cool over a bowl of ice water, then refrigerate until cold.
5. Once cold, pour custard into a shallow container and place in freezer. Remove from freezer and beat mixture to break ice crystals at least three times during
freezing (this ensures a smooth, creamy consistency). Freeze for at least 4 hours or until hard enough to scoop.

Variations:

Chocolate ice cream
Break 200g good-quality dark chocolate into pieces and heat with cream and milk, then follow original recipe. Add 150g of finely chopped chocolate to custard just
before freezing.

Fruit ice cream
Blitz 500g chopped fruit – such as strawberries, mango, apricots and berries – in a blender. Follow original recipe and add fruit purée to custard just before freezing.

Raisin and nut ice cream
Soak 175g raisins in 100ml pineapple or apple juice for at least 1 hour. Follow original recipe and add fruit and 75g roasted chopped peanuts to custard just before freezing.