Summer enjoyment has come late for many of us in the northern hemisphere this year, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make the most of whatever hot weather we’ve got left! ☀️

You know the saying…“make hay while the sun shines”, except in my case, I prefer to make ice-cream. 🍦 Nothing screams “summer” quite like strawberries 🍓, so it is (unsurprisingly) one of my all-time favourite flavours, and I don’t mean those pink-coloured concoctions with artificial flavouring/syrup. 🤢 Nooo…I like the ones with real fruit in it. 😁

Unfortunately, not many brands make these, and those that do tend to sell out very quickly (or are expensive), so I decided to have a go at making my own by starting with a base of vanilla ice-cream, using only three ingredients (plus topping/flavour). 🍨

Although this recipe is simple and can be easily modified, quantities will change depending on the optional ingredients you add to the mixture, but more on that later…

You will need a 1L tub/container with lid, but will require no machine or special equipment, though an electric whisk (handheld is also fine) would come in very handy (unless you want to tone up those arm muscles!). 💪

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INGREDIENTS

• Condensed Milk – approx* 250ml
• Whipping Cream – approx* 300ml
• Vanilla Essence/Paste – 1 or 2 tsp

• Optional – Fruit/Chopped Nuts/Syrup etc.

Add condensed milk to whipping cream.

Whisk till stiff peaks form.

Add vanilla essence and whisk briefly till mixed in. You don’t want it over-whipped.

Fold in your flavour of choice.

Pour mixture into tub (I reused a Carte D’Or one), and freeze**.

*Bear in mind that condensed milk 🥛 is very rich and full of sugar. For anyone with a sweet tooth, 250ml would not be an issue, but personally, I feel that is a tad over the top for plain vanilla. However, if you are adding pureed/chopped fruit, the tartness of it will counteract the sweetness of the condensed milk, so 250ml should be just about right. Otherwise, I’d reduce it to 200 or 150ml and adjust the amount of whipping cream to compensate. The end-result might be a bit lighter in texture but will still be just as delicious. 👌

**Freezing times can vary from appliance to appliance. ❄️ For ice-cream that is on the soft side, I’d say four to six hours should be enough. If you leave it in the freezer overnight, you might need to let it sit for a bit before serving.

My copycat Häagen-Dazs strawberry ice-cream was a hit with my family 👍 and turned out almost as good as the original Strawberries & Cream…even if I do say so myself! I also made mango ice-cream 🥭 topped with crunchy pistachios. It was incredibly creamy, and though you can’t tell from the colour, the mango taste was pretty strong. 😋

I’m going to continue experimenting with different flavours…not 100% sure what’s going to be next on my list, but I’m thinking Dalgona Coffee ☕️ with crushed Lotus Biscoff. Any suggestions, feel free to comment below. 😊

Hope this easy ice-cream recipe helps make the rest of the 2020 pandemic summer a littler easier to bear! ❤️