A slab of decent fudge – used two ways, hot and cold – can turn plain ice cream into a sumptuous sundae treat. This is monumentally indulgent, but what the heck? We all need a little sweetness sometimes.
Serves 4
350g vanilla ice cream
250g vanilla fudge, roughly chopped or crumbled
25ml whole milk
50g walnuts, flaked almonds, chopped hazelnuts or other nuts, lightly toasted
Leave the ice cream out of the freezer for 15–20 minutes, until it is just soft enough to mash.
Transfer the ice cream to a shallow freezerproof container (an empty ice cream carton will do), crumble over 100g of the fudge and mash it in to the ice cream. Put the lid on the container and return to the freezer while you make the sauce.
Put the remaining crumbled fudge into a small saucepan and add the milk. Heat gently, stirring constantly and crushing the fudge pieces with a spoon, until the fudge has melted completely into the milk, making a smooth, pourable sauce. Leave to cool a little, so the sauce is warm rather than boiling hot.
Put two scoops of the fudge-studded ice cream into each serving glass or sundae dish. Top with some warm fudge sauce and finish off with a generous scattering of nuts.
SWAPS You can totally choccify this recipe, using chocolate ice cream and/or chocolate fudge, and adding plenty of grated chocolate to top it off, along with the nuts.
PLUS ONE To zing this up a bit and cut the sweetness a little, add a spoonful of dried sour cherries or dried cranberries along with the nuts.