Ice cream cones

If you are going to make your own ice cream, why not try your own cones too? They are reasonably simple to make, and if they don’t look quite as pretty as the commercial brands, they will make up for it in flavour.

Makes 12 cones

185 g (6½ oz/1¼ cups) plain (all-purpose) flour

85 g (3 oz/²/₃ cup) icing (confectioners’) sugar

a pinch of sea salt

3 egg whites, from 65 g (2½ oz) eggs

½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

2 tablespoons milk

65 g (2½ oz) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1½ tablespoons golden syrup or honey

Sift the flour, icing sugar and salt into a bowl and make a well in the centre. In a jug, combine the egg whites, vanilla, milk, melted butter and golden syrup, then pour into the well, using a balloon whisk to mix the batter until smooth and lump free. It should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or up to 3 days, before using.

Ideally, you’ll have an ice cream cone mould from a kitchenware shop — or if you’re handy, you can form a cone shape by compacting scrunched-up foil into a cone shape, making sure the wide end is at least 6 cm (2½ inches) in diameter, and wrap the outside with a layer of baking paper, so the biscuit cone will remove more easily. You’ll also need a folded tea towel to help you cope with the heat of the cone — the batter needs to be shaped while still piping hot.

When ready to cook the batter, preheat the oven to 150°C (300°F). Lightly spray two baking trays with cooking oil spray. On each of two sheets of baking paper large enough to fit the trays, draw a 16 cm (6¼ inch) diameter circle with pencil. Place the baking paper, pencil side down, onto each tray, smoothing them over to help them adhere and keep them sturdy.

Drop 2 tablespoons of the batter into the centre of each circle, then use a small off-set spatula to spread the mixture evenly to fill the circles — they should be an even 2 mm (¹/₁₆ inch) thickness all over.

Place one tray in the oven and cook for 14–15 minutes, or until golden all over. Add the second tray to the oven about 5 minutes after the first, and cook as before. You stagger the cooking of the cones, so you have time to mould them while they’re still hot. (If the phone interrupts you and a ‘cone’ sets flat before you have a chance to roll it, simply pop it back in the oven briefly to soften.) When the first tray is ready, remove it from the oven. Slip a spatula underneath one of the rounds. Wearing clean rubber gloves, or using a folded-over tea towel to protect you from the heat, quickly wrap the round of batter around the mould, at the same time pinching the pointed end to seal it closed — you will need both hands for this. Hold around the wider cone and the tip for a minute or two, until the shape holds, then allow the cone to cool on the mould before removing to a tray. By this stage your next cone should be ready for rolling, so repeat as before.

If your cone tip doesn’t seal too well, wrap some baking paper around the tip, or pop a little piece of marshmallow into the cone before filling with ice cream; this will help stop the drips.

Repeat the spreading, cooking and rolling methods until you have used up all the batter. You should end up with about 12 cones (or bowls; see note below).

When cooled, fill with scoops of your favourite ice cream and enjoy.

The cones are best eaten the same day, but will last for up to 1 week in an airtight container. If you don’t use your cones straight away, they may soften a little. Give them a quick blast in a hot oven; when they cool down they will crisp up again.

Photography © Brett Stevens

note If you have acquired ‘asbestos’ hands from working in a professional kitchen, you can try rolling freehand. Put a folded tea towel on your left hand (if you are right-handed, and vice versa if not). Place the cooked round on top, then make a claw with that hand so the round starts to curl over into a loose cone shape, using your free hand to help it into a neater cone, squeezing the tip of the cone to seal. Hold for a minute or so, using the tea towel as a buffer from the heat. You can also just pop the round over a small upturned bowl or ramekin, using the tea towel to help shape it — you’ll end up with your own little ice cream dish when set.