SALTY ALMOND CARAMEL

This is far and away the most popular ice cream in the shop. Creamy, salty and nutty, its success is really no surprise. Without the additions, the ice cream makes a great vanilla base, through which you could fold any of your favourite toppings, cake scraps or crispy bits.

SERVES 4–6

200 ml (7 fl oz) thin (pouring) cream

300 ml (10½ fl oz) milk

1 vanilla bean, cut in half lengthways, seeds scraped

6 egg yolks

120 g (4¼ oz) caster (superfine) sugar

½ quantity of salty caramel

1 quantity of caramelised nuts, made using almonds

Put the cream, milk and vanilla bean and seeds in a saucepan. Heat gently until the mixture comes to a simmer, then remove from the heat and leave to infuse for 30 minutes.

Return the pan to medium–high heat. Mix the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl, but do not over-aerate. Add the egg yolk mixture to the pan and stir until the mixture coats the back of a spoon (83ºC/181ºF on a sugar thermometer).

Pass the mixture through a fine sieve, into a bowl set over ice.

Once the mixture has chilled, churn in your ice-cream machine as per the manufacturer’s instructions.

As soon as the ice cream is ready in the machine, fold the salty caramel and almonds through, making sure to leave some chunks, so that when it comes to the eating, it’ll be like finding pots of gold in your ice cream.

The ice cream will keep in the freezer for up to 4 weeks.