Thaice cream

Ice cream and summer just go together. Though in our household ice cream seems to be a bit of a staple all year round - it's the one thing The Gentleman never forgets to bring back from the shop. Ice cream is something I've never even tried to make myself before as ice cream maker, in addition to the blow torch and pasta machine, is one of the contraptions our kitchens are missing. But now that even regular shops stock glucose syrup which allegedly enables producing ice cream even without the machine I had no excuse not to give it a go.

The inspiration was that best coconut ice cream in the world that The Gentleman so graciously drives me all the way to Puerto Banus for. And can you think of anything better to go with coconut than lime? And chilli? (geddit? Thai+Ice+Cream= Thaice cream! I scream with laughter at my wittiness now!)

I decided to give other classic Thai flavours (garlic and coriander) a miss but I was not really to compromise on ginger. I tried to find those hard, crystallized ginger chunks but didn't. I would have crushed them and added into the mix during the freezing process but I had to settle for candied ginger instead. That you can either make yourself or buy from the shop. I chopped them into smaller pieces and sprinkled on top of the ice cream.

The result was one of the best ice creams EVER.

4 yolks

1 dl sugar

2 dl coconut cream

1 dl glucose syrup

2 dl double cream

1 chilli

zest and juice of 1 lime

1 dl coconut flakes

Whisk yolks and sugar into pale yellow foam. Split the chilli and put in a pan with coconut cream, double cream and glucose syrup. Bring to boil. Combine with the yolks and whisk until smooth. Add lime juice and zest along with the coconut flakes. Leave the chilli in and cool in room temperature. Once it's cooled enough, remove the chilli (which now will have infused the mixture with a gentle heat) and either put it into ice cream machine or freezer (for at least 5 hours but preferably overnight). Stir a couple of times during the freezing process.

Oh, and the taste? Better than the ice cream in Puerto Banus. Though I don't think I have the heart to tell that to The Gentleman...