the basics…

I love ice cream. So, while my colleagues were buying bread makers, I decided an ice cream maker would be more to my taste. I bought myself a Gaggia Gelataria and I have no regrets. It produces about 800ml of ready-to-eat, luxurious ice cream in a little over half-an-hour!

Below are a few of the combinations I've enjoyed. All follow the same basic recipe:

1. Roughly 300ml of double cream, 125g of sugar (preferably organic caster sugar) and 300ml of ‘stuff’
2. Mix the ingredients in a medium-sized mixing bowl, bung the lot in the ice cream maker for half-an-hour et voilà!

recipes…

chili chocolate

A wondrous combination of smooth and bite: melt the better part of a jar of Green & Blacks Hot Chocolate with the sugar into 250ml of full milk and add 1 teaspoon of quality chili powder. Allow about 5 minutes to cool before adding the cream and sticking into the machine. This one tends to take a little longer than the normal 30 minutes to freeze.

latte

Delicious real coffee ice cream with a kick: put three scoops of your favourite coffee grounds, the sugar and 300ml of full milk into a milk-pan. Place on a low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring continuously. Just before the milk boils, remove from heat and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. Filter the liquid through a sieve into the mixing bowl, add the cream and another scoop of fresh coffee grounds before putting the lot in the machine.

fruit

Best with PYO fruit (e.g. strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, bananas): blend about 400g of fruit into a smooth paste, sieve out the seeds, add the sugar and leave for about 30 minutes. Add the cream and put the lot in the machine.

banana & ginger

An interesting mix... Blend 3 medium-sized bananas, 4 stems of ginger and the sugar. Add the cream, and put it all into the machine.