Thursday, September 21, 2006

Scooping the rewards

This recipe, a great favourite, scoops easily once frozen, and you make a lot for your money.
Soft scoop ice-cream. Take care when using hot syrup.
To make a big tubful you need 3 egg whites, 6oz granulated sugar and 3 tablespoons of water. Also a 5.floz tub of either double or whipping cream and one 5fl.oz tub of plain or fruit flavoured yogurt. Plus few drops of vanilla essence.
In a small pan put granulated sugar and water. Heat gently until sugar has dissolved then bring to the boil for about 3 minutes..
While the syrup is boiling beat egg whites until thick.
When the syrup is hot enough to be gathered up into a soft ball (spoon a little in a saucer of water to find out), remove from heat and immediately start re-beating the whites pouring a very thin stream of syrup into the whites until all the syrup has been used up. Keep beating until the meringue has cooled. By then it will be very thick. (As well as using for ice-cream, this 'Italian' meringue can be baked in the oven to make standard meringues).
Beat the cream with a few drops of vanilla extract and then fold into the meringue together with 5 fl.oz of plain or fruit flavoured yogurt. Put mixture into a container, place on lid and freeze.

Tips: When frying eggs for a family, break one egg into a pan and into the white add only the yolk of another. Use saved whites to make the ice-cream. With whole eggs, use the whites for meringue and the yolks to make a quiche or Lemony Apple Curd - this recipe will be posted shortly.) The whites beat more easily if you add a pinch of cream of tartar.
To make Mint Choc Chip, omit the vanilla and substitute peppermint essence, adding a few drops of green food colouring to the water before boiling. Finally, fold grated chocolate into the ice-cream Before freezing,