Strawberry Ice Cream

Strawberries are more than good for you;

they are magic little berries full of healthy goodness.

Just 5 strawberries provide an average adult with their daily requirement of vitamin C, which not only boosts the immune system, but also fights free radicals and helps prevent heart disease and cancer. Strawberries are also rich in the antioxidant, ellagic acid, which has powerful anticancer effects. All the more reason to eat this wonderful scrumptious fruit.

This ice cream, perfect for a warm summer evening, makes a little fruit go a long way. Prepare it the day before for the best results.

Ingredients:
250g strawberries
75g icing sugar
juice of half a lemon
150ml double cream
75ml single cream
6-8 large strawberries to garnish

Method:
Hull and wash the strawberries. Drain them thoroughly and cut them into small pieces. Put them in a liquidiser with the icing sugar and lemon juice and blitz them to a puree. Whisk the two creams until thick, but not too stiff. Blend the cream into the strawberry puree. Spoon the strawberry mixture into a plastic freezer container, cover with a lid and leave to freeze for 12 hours.

One or two hours before serving, remove the ice cream from the freezer and thaw slightly in the fridge. Scoop the ice cream into individual glasses and decorate with slices of fresh strawberry.

Frozen Chocolate Mousse Pie

This is made like an icecream pie in a pastry shell. What could be more amazing! If you wanted, you could make small individual pies with this mixture. Freeze the mixture on a tray then cut the frozen mixture into rectangles, which can each be sandwiched between wafer biscuits and you have your own "Eskimo Pies".

Ingredients:

2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

1 quart, plus 3 tablespoons heavy cream

1 tablespoon chocolate crème liqueur

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

3 cups powdered sugar

1 premade pie shell

Chocolate chips, for topping

Method:

Preheat oven to 180C.

Prick holes to bottom of pie shell. Bake in oven for 11 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, add chocolate chips, 3 tablespoons heavy cream and chocolate liqueur. Cook until smooth, about 1 minute. Add Vanilla extract. Mix and let cool.

In a mixing bowl combine sugar and 1 quart heavy cream. Whip as if you were making Whipped cream. Slowly fold the chocolate sauce into the cream.

Next pour the mousse mixture into the pie shell. Add chocolate chips to the top of the pie. Wrap the pie in clingfilm and freeze for a few hours or overnight.

Christmas Icecream Bomb

For most of my life I lived in the southern hemisphere were

December was hot and icecream was so enjoyable.

Now that we are living in the UK, as a family,

we still enjoy having an icecream pud for Christmas,

instead of the filling fruit and stodge variety

of the traditional Christmas Pudding.

Of course, it has to have some alcohol in it.....

Ingredients:
125ml cherries, cut in half
125ml raisins
100ml brandy or rum
125ml Christmas pudding, crumbled up
60ml chopped walnuts
500ml icecream
a sprig of holly to decorate

Method:
Soak the cherries and raisins in your alcohol of choice for a couple of hours or overnight.
Mix all the ingredients together roughly.
Line a 2L bowl (freezer proof) with cling film and fill with icecream mix.
Put it in the freezer until required.
Remove from the freezer and turn out on a serving dish.
Remove the cling film and top the bomb with a sprig of holly to decorate.