i scream, you scream, we all scream for ICECREAM!

Last summer while housesitting for some friends in Darling Point I became aquainted with their icecream maker. Actually we were more than aquainted, we became very good friends and during my stay I was turning out sorbets, gelato, and icecreams at any opportunity. It was a sad day when the owners of the house returned and I had to leave my new found icecream friend behind but I promised myself that as soon as I got a place of my own I would invest and the doors to the world of icecream would once again be open!

So now, in the middle of a swealtering Sydney summer, I find myself the proud owner of a shiny new icecream machine. Not one of those lightweight ones that you need to keep a large container in the freezer waiting for the chance that you might feel like whipping up a batch of icy confection. No my new baby has an internal compressor which means that it can tirelessly curn out batch after batch of icecream goodness at a moments notice without taking up valuable freezer space. Needless to say, as my sister Nao observed on Christmas Day, someone is in love!

In the few short weeks that we’ve been together Mr Icecream and I have covered some ground. It all started with the classic vanilla made using free range eggs produced with love by my mum’s chickens (aka ‘the princesses’) and a succulent Tahitian vanilla bean from my favourite spice man, Herbie.

Since then we’ve progressed to rhubarb gelato, strawberry sorbet (with home grown strawbs: thanks mum), pinenut praline icecream (bit of a winner), mango sorbet, choc hazelnut (made with nutella and smashed up ferrero rochers), vanilla frozen yoghurt (added too much milk so a bit icy), cashew praline icecream, burnt honey icecream, raspberry sorbet (an attempt to be kinder to my waistline), and pistachio nougart & coconut milk icecream.

Having depleted the princess egg supply (3 chickens @ 1 egg per chicken per day), last night I decided to risk trying the eggless ‘quick mix ice cream’ recipe that came in Mr Icecream’s instruction booklet. Without any vanilla beans on hand I opted for a passionfruit & lemon icecream version which by all accounts was a winner. Smooth, sweet, creamy goodness given a twist with the refreshing lemony passionfruit flavours and crunchy passionfruit seeds. All good things!

passionfruit & lemon eggless ice cream

makes approx 1L

1 can sweetened condensed milk (395g)
1C cream
1C milk
100mL passionfruit pulp (approx 4)
50mL lemon juice

Combine all ingredients and chill completely before freezing in an icecream machine as per manufacturer’s instructions.

Postscript: A few months ago I was in Darling Point and was present at the passing of my first icecream maker friend. The icecream maker owner, Missy Helgs, was brewing up a batch of delicious mango icecream when he gave his last spin and moved on to the icecream heaven in the sky. Gone but not forgotten.