No Fancy Machines Necessary Ice-Cream...

Firstly, apologies, I have no photo of the ice-cream (yet), will put one up as soon as I make another batch of this gorgeousness :)  This is adapted from Mary Berry's No Churn Ice-Cream, is largely foolproof, and delicious with the Brownies or Chocolate Muffins as a dessert. Or you could make it in a few flavours and just have assorted ice-cream.  It makes slightly more than 1 litre so your container will need to be 1.5 l to hold it all, or make it in two smaller containers.  The secret of a good authentic consistency is to stir it up every 30 mins or so, until it is set (frozen).  If you forget and leave it set without stirring, it's not a total disaster, but I feel the consistency is lacking any authenticity.  Mary's recipe (whilst I do bow to her greatness) suggests no churning is necessary, but I feel it does help it along if you can stir it.

Vanilla Ice-Cream

4 medium eggs - separated
100g caster sugar (white or golden, but I use golden)
300 mls double cream - you can use the lower fat variety by Elmlea (Delight) for a healthier version ;)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (for real authenticity use the seeds from a vanilla pod - it looks much nicer too)

1.  Whisk egg whites in a large bowl until stiff peaks form when whisk is removed (remember to first clean your bowl with fresh lemon juice to remove any traces of fat/grease)
2.  Slowly whisk in the caster sugar, then continue to whisk until egg whites are stiff and glossy
3.  Whisk cream and vanilla pod seeds (if using) in a separate bowl until soft peaks form when whisk is removed (it is crucial to overall consistency that the cream is not overbeaten, stop before the cream is too firm)
4.  Fold the cream, egg yolks and flavouring* (vanilla in this recipe, but you can use other flavourings at this point too such as raspberry puree, coffee essence, chocolate, choc and mint, and many others) into meringue mixture until well combined (fold using a figure of 8 movement)
5.  Pour into a plastic container, put lid on container, and freeze.  It will take at least 2 hours to fully set, but remember to stir it up, scraping in the frozen edges into the softer centre every 30 mins or so.

*I have made this ice-cream with the addition of crumbled Flake mixed in at this stage, and you can use crushed Maltesers, crushed Smarties, or crushed nuts of your choice, just use your imagination and the variety is endless.  

WARNING:  you may not buy factory-made ice-cream again after making this!!