Even without an ice cream maker, you can (quite literally) whip up an ice cream in a few hours. All it takes is a freezer, some elbow grease and the patience to cool your custard base. This is beautiful to look at and tastes of early autumn. The recipe comes originally from an old issue of Waitrose magazine but I’ve adapted the crumble topping a little, in homage to the combination we like in ‘real’ crumble. It makes a great finale to a Sunday lunch.
Serves 6
Ingredients
600ml single cream
200g caster sugar
1 vanilla pod
4 eggs, yolks only, at room temperature
1 bramley apple, peeled, cored and sliced finely
150g blackberries – ideally foraged
For the crumble
100g plain flour
50g ground almonds
75g unsalted butter, cubed and chilled
40g light brown soft sugar
a pinch of salt
½ tsp ground cinnamon
Method
1. Put the cream, 100g sugar and the vanilla pod in a saucepan and heat, whisking gently until the sugar dissolves. Bring to the boil, then slowly pour over the egg yolks, still whisking, until combined. Set aside to cool.
2. Put the apple in a saucepan with the blackberries, remaining sugar, and 1 tbsp water. Cover and cook over a medium heat for 10-12 minutes until the apple is soft. Place in a blender and blitz until smooth, then pass through a sieve. Leave this mixture to cool a bit too. Removing the vanilla pod first, mix the custard with the fruit pulp. Cover with clingfilm and refrigerate until well chilled.
3. Churn the mixture in an ice-cream machine following the manufacturer’s instructions, then freeze. Alternatively, freeze in a lidded freezer-proof container. After 2 hours, transfer to a food processor or blender and blitz until smooth, or you can whisk it vigorously by hand, then return to the freezer. Repeat after 2 hours, then freeze until set.
4. For the crumble topping, preheat the oven to 200°C, gas mark 6. Place the flour and almonds in a bowl with a pinch of salt and rub in the butter with your fingers – or whizz in a food processor – until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and cinnamon, tip onto a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until crisp and golden. Leave to cool. Serve the ice cream with a generous sprinkling of crumble. Store your leftover ice cream in the freezer (obvs) and keep the crumble in an airtight container: it will be fine for up to a week.
Years of Practice 