The best raisin ice cream you’ll ever eat!

I first ate this fabulous ice cream at Sam & Sam Clark’s Moro restaurant in London – I’d never tasted anything quite like it. The ice cream is a basic custard-based vanilla ice cream. The real show stopping aspect is that the raisins are soaked in Pedro Ximenez sherry and a little is drizzled over the ice cream as it’s served. This ‘dinner party worthy’ ice cream is truly delicious and well worth the effort to make, although it is pretty easy anyway. Don’t be tempted to use any other sherry than Pedro Ximenez (available from most good supermarkets or wine merchants) – the grapes are sun dried first which gives it a fabulous treacly and sweet flavour. The large Malaga raisins from Spain are the best but use ordinary ones if you can’t find them in your local shops.

You will need…

• 1 fresh vanilla pod
• 400ml full cream milk – Jersey or Gold Top for preference
• 500ml double cream
• 6 large free range egg yolks (save and freeze the whites to make a pavlova or macaroons another time)
• 200g golden caster sugar (Billington’s for preference)
• 100g raisins
• 4 tablespoons of Pedro Ximenez sherry

To make…

• Combine the raisins and the sherry in a small bowl and leave to soak for a good two hours until the raisins are plump and all the sherry has been absorbed.
• Pour the milk into a non-stick pan, slit the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds with the tip of a knife and add to the milk. Bring the milk to the boil, take it off the heat and then leave to infuse for half an hour.
• Add the egg yolks and sugar to a large mixing bowl, whisk thoroughly until pale and foamy.
• Bring the milk to the boil again, remove the vanilla pods and pour over the egg and sugar mixture whilst stirring vigorously. Wipe out the milk pan to ensure that there’s no milk skin remaining.  Pour the egg and milk mixture back into it and cook for 3 or 4 minutes over a low heat whilst stirring constantly.  This will melt the sugar and cook the egg through. You’re aiming for slightly thickened custard so don’t let it boil or the eggs will scramble and you’ll have to start again.
• Transfer the mix to a large jug (I use my Pyrex jug as it makes it easy to pour into the ice cream maker) and allow it cool a little. Stir in the cream and then cover and put it in the fridge to chill for a couple of hours.
• Churn the mixture in your ice cream maker (you can still freeze it but it never has the same texture as churned ice cream) and add the sherry soaked raisins right at the end.
• Once it’s ready – about 25 minutes – transfer it to a plastic storage container.
• When you serve it, pour over about a dessertspoon of the sherry.
• Prepare for the conversation to stop if you are eating this with friends, they’ll be too happy to speak!

Pigeon Cottage Tip: I use a Magimix Le Glacier 1.5 litre ice cream maker to make all my iced desserts.