Farewell to summer

I bought popsicle moulds at my sister's Tupperware party. It seemed like an odd purchase, since I can't think when I ever had a hankering to make popsicles, but these moulds were a cheery, egg-yolk yellow with orange bottoms and a bright green popsicle stick. They looked happy and fun, even if I wasn't sure that I was going to use them. They also reminded me of my childhood, as mum had a similar set, except hers were a boring plain white plastic (Tupperware has really sexed up its colours since the 1970s!)

Rather than just admiring the pretty colours of the moulds, I thought I should use them before summer's long, hot, ice-cream-friendly days disappeared for the year. There's still some dangerously hot conditions forecast for the next few days (and here's praying that there's no repeat of the truly horrendous Black Saturday of 7 February) but there's also an autumnal tone to the days, a slight chill in the morning and a mellowing at dusk, and it won't be long before I'm longing for hot puddings instead of freshly made ice-cream.

So, to celebrate the end of the season, I bought a punnet of raspberries and pureed them. I pushed the puree through a strainer to get rid of the seeds and swirled the puree prettily through a mixture of natural yoghurt and caster sugar. I spooned this mixture into the moulds, put them in the freezer and only a few hours later had an icy treat ready to go. For a spur-of-the-moment indulgence, frozen yoghurt hits the spot: ice-cream requires you to pre-freeze the ice-cream maker's bowl and make and chill an eggy custard to form the base.

The sour tang of the natural yoghurt balanced nicely with the slightly tart raspberries, and these two strong flavours were united and softened by a little addition of caster sugar. You could use a number of combinations of pureed fruit to make a similar popsicle; you could even make two types - say raspberry and mango - to make lovely striped popsicles.

I'm reluctant to give precise measurements for these popsicles, as I just used what was in the fridge and mixed it together. I had a 250ml tub of yoghurt, a 125g punnet of raspberries and I added about 50g of caster sugar. You could use more or less of any ingredient to suit your own tastes and size of popsicle moulds. I think this mixture would also successfully freeze in a metal container and could then be scooped out into bowls or cones.

Cool treat

The mercury continues to soar to 40 degrees and I can feel the sun burning into my skin the moment I step out of doors. Our relentless summer heatwave continues. Although the kitchen is the last place I want to be, the cooking bug is nagging at me. I feel the urge to bake, to create new dishes and to try out my new cookbooks. But I don't want to turn on the stove or cook heavy, savoury dishes.

What else to turn to in such a situation but my ice-cream maker? I haven't given it a run for some time and this is perfect ice-cream weather. A container of frozen blackberries makes a great basis for ice-cream. Pulverised with caster sugar in a food processor, the rich, deep red berry juice is the colour of good wine as I swirl it into a custard base, made from milk, cream, egg yolks and vanilla extract. A churn in the ice-cream maker and we have a cool treat to enjoy after dinner.

I adapted this recipe from a recipe by Tony Bilson that appeared in the Fare Exchange column in Australian Gourmet Traveller.

Berry ice-cream

200ml milk
600ml cream
4 egg yolks
1 tsp vanilla extract
500g berries (I used blackberries, as I love their rich flavour in ice-cream but other berries, such as raspberries, would also be OK)
240g caster sugar

Heat the milk and 200ml cream in a saucepan until hot but not boiling. Beat the egg yolks and 90g caster sugar until thick and pale. Whisk in a little of the hot milk mixture and then pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over a low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Take off heat, pour into a bowl (strain if necessary) and put into the fridge to cool. Whiz the berries with the remaining caster sugar in a food processor. Strain through a sieve and mix with the custard. Whip the remaining cream until soft peaks form and fold through the berry custard. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn according to manufacturer's instructions.

Scrumptious scoops

I don't think of myself as a kitchen gadget person. So many gadgets - popcorn maker, milkshake maker, breadmaker, sandwich press, deep fryer, juicer, waffle iron - do one specific thing only that can easily be done by a basic piece of kitchen equipment (for example, you can pop corn in a saucepan). The gadgets take up a lot of space but may be used infrequently.

I make two exceptions: my rice cooker and my ice-cream maker. (I don't count my Kitchen Aid mixmaster, my Magimix food processor or Saeco coffee machine, as they are Essential Kitchen Appliances). My rice cooker is fabulous! It frees up a hotplate when cooking and I've said goodbye to the days of cooked rice sticking to the bottom of my saucepan (I don't care how many "How to cook perfect rice" instructions I read - it always boils dry). But my rice cooker gives me perfect rice every time with no fuss.

Adam gave me my ice-cream maker last Christmas. Strictly speaking, it does fall into the gadget list, as it does do only one thing (although the instructions promise that it can double as a wine cooler) and ice-cream can also be made without a machine (you need to put the ice-cream in a metal container and place in the freezer, removing it several times over several hours to beat with a hand mixer before re-freezing). But ice-cream made this way is never as creamy as with a machine and it also involves the extra re-beating steps.

It's been a long, hot summer with little rain and the ice-cream machine has certainly had a good workout. Although I have at least a dozen recipes, I've never bothered to make much ice-cream before. Call me lazy but the machine has made it so much easier! We've been feasting on vanilla, coffee, milk chocolate, blackberry and honey, allspice, pistacho and (my personal favourite) raspberry ice-cream, and we've also had champagne, lemon and apricot sorbet.

A sweet egg custard is the basis of ice-cream, while sorbets use a mixture of fruit juice and a sugar syrup. It really is very easy to make and you have the added benefit of knowing exactly what's going into your ice-cream (no preservatives!) Add your chosen ingredients to the custard, cool and then churn in the ice-cream machine. It's important that the custard is cold before you churn it in the machine or the ice-cream won't firm up properly.

I use Donna Hay's basic vanilla ice-cream recipe but you could use your favourite egg custard recipe if you have one - it's just egg yolks, milk, cream and sugar and only the proportions change. You make the custard and then add your chosen ingredients.

Now the only question is what to do with the leftover egg whites? Stay tuned because there will be some recipes to use up egg whites coming later this week.

BASIC VANILLA ICE-CREAM

250ml milk
500ml cream
1 vanilla bean, split and seeds scraped
6 egg yolks
2/3 cup sugar

Mix milk, cream and vanilla together and heat until hot (but not boiling). Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until pale and thick. Add the hot milk mixture bit by bit, whisking all the time. Pour back into the saucepan and put back on heat. Cook, stirring, until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon (4 to 6 minutes). Take off heat and either put saucepan into a basin of iced water or pour into another container (you want to stop the custard cooking). Cool, then churn in ice-cream machine, following the manufacturer's instructions.

(From Donna Hay magazine, issue 7)

VARIATIONS

RASPBERRY: puree 300g raspberries and 50g caster sugar in a food processor. Strain through a sieve and add to vanilla custard base before churning.

BLACKBERRY AND HONEY: add 50g honey to custard when you take it off heat and then strain into a bowl and cool. Stir through 300g blackberries and churn (you could also puree the blackberries as per the raspberry recipe).

ALLSPICE: Add one tablespoon of allspice berries to the milk and cream (omit the vanilla). Heat and then sit for 20 minutes to infuse. Strain through sieve, reheat gently and whisk into egg yolk and sugar mixture. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Cool and churn in machine.

COFFEE: Put 1/2 cup strong espresso into a saucepan and simmer over medium heat until it is reduced to 1/4 cup. Cool. Replace the vanilla bean with 1 teaspoon vanilla extract. Add espresso to milk and cream before heating, then follow basic vanilla ice-cream recipe. (From Donna Hay magazine, issue 7)

CHOCOLATE: Add 150g chopped dark or milk chocolate to the milk and cream before heating. Replace the vanilla bean with extract and follow the basic vanilla ice-cream recipe. (From Donna Hay magazine, issue 7)

PISTACHIO: Lightly roast 200g chopped pistachios. Make basic vanilla ice-cream and churn, adding the pistachios when the ice-cream is just firm. Churn to evenly disperse.

LEMON SORBET: Place 1 cup caster sugar and 1/2 cup water in a saucepan over low heat and stir till the sugar is dissolved. Increase the heat and boil for one minute. Set aside to cool. Combine 1 cup lemon juice, 1 cup extra water and the cooled syrup in a bowl and stir. Pour into ice-cream and churn until just firm. I've also made this without a machine - pour the mix into a metal tin, freeze and re-beat a couple of times.
(From Donna Hay magazine, issue 7)