Foraging; it’s my dirty little secret. Whenever I tell the joes at my work what I’ve been up to at the weekend I seem to get some funny looks. I guess they can’t imagine why I would I would want to traipse round some woodland for some scabby mushrooms. It is a fair point but without wanting to sound too self-righteous there is something comforting and magical about being a little more connected to nature. I think the main reason for my penchant for foraging is because it is essentially gambling. Gambling for nature geeks. You are investing time for an unknown reward. Sometimes luck is on our side and nature comes up trumps like when we found a few kilos of chanterelles in a weekend. I still fantasise about that trip (sad, I know). Last weekend we found a wee patch of wild strawberries or “the small fragrant one” as it’s Latin name translates to. They were like little red jewels by the side of the path. The “puggy” went ding, ding, ding.
This recipe is my take on the classic strawberries and cream. This is a super rich and super quick ice cream. I served it with our tart wild strawberry find which cut through the richness of the mascarpone ice cream beautifully. A gooseberry or rhubarb compote would also work well. This recipe does require an ice-cream maker. I’m going to consider it a good investment as it cost the equivalent of 8 Haagen Daz tubs. I figured buying the machine will work out cheaper in the long run or at least this is how I tried to justify the purchase of more kitchen paraphernalia to the boyfriend.
Ridiculously easy vanilla and mascarpone ice cream
75g caster sugar
250g mascarpone
500g double cream
seeds of 1 vanilla pod
Mix all the ingredients together until smooth.
Switch on the ice-cream maker and pour in the mixture.
Leave it to churn until ready, for me it took about 10 minutes.
I've just received an ice cream maker for my birthday and so excited to use it - definitely a better investment than £4 tubs of ice cream from the shops, probably pumped full of lots of ingredients you don't even want!
ReplyDeleteA perfect dessert for summer. Yum.
ReplyDeletehi thelittleloaf - I saw part of Jamie's american revolution, it showed some of the stuff they put in cheap ice cream. absolutely minging - hair etc eucchh. Im so excited to try out flavours that are tricky to find in the shops eg chai, salted caramel.
ReplyDeleteMandy - thanks for your comment - we also found some wild raspberries that I made a sorbet from. I served it with some vodka and lime zest. I'm going to try post it towards the end of the week.
yum yum yum! vodka thats a bit risky! hope that wasnt on a monday night ;)
ReplyDelete