I’ve desperately wanted to learn how to make my own ice cream for years. A lack of an ice cream maker put that on hold for a while, though. I tried the (very good) method of buying top quality commercial ice cream and adding special ingredients for dinner parties, but it wasn’t quite the same as making from scratch. Luckily for me, last year for a (ahem) ‘special age’ birthday, my lovely parents-in-law gave me a KitchenAid mixer a gift. I’ll go into all the thousands of reasons I love my Kitchenaid another day, but I will say one of those reasons is ICE CREAM MAKER ATTACHMENT.

No, you don’t need a KitchenAid to make ice cream. You don’t even need an expensive ice cream maker. I’ve seen them on special for as little as $30. Keep an eye out at those sales.

They’re a handy little toy to have in the kitchen. I will be adding a couple of posts in the near future that go into more detail so far as ice cream making is concerned, including recipes that don’t always need a specialty machine.

This recipe is a Mandy-altered version of one that came courtesy of KitchenAid. It’s delicious. And full-on.

The richest, most decadent chocolate ice cream you’re ever likely to spoil yourself with. And it’s far easier to make than you might imagine…

What You Need:

• 600ml of thickened cream
• 300ml full-fat milk (sorry, but there’s just no point going skim when you’re doing this one…)
• 300g of best quality dark cooking chocolate, roughly chopped. Best quality means best quality. You need a minimum of 60% cocoa. Trust me on this. I’ve tried to cheat. It doesn’t work. At all.
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract. In a perfect world, this means pure vanilla extract. I didn’t have that this time, so used the artificial stuff.
• 4 egg yolks.
• 155 grams of caster sugar.

How It’s Done:

I’ve made this dozens of times now, and except for the time I used cheap chocolate buds, it’s never failed me. The one thing I always do before beginning is to have all my ingredients ready and lined up on the bench. That means sugar weighed, eggs separated.

Step One: Place cream, milk and chocolate into a large metal bowl over a saucepan containing simmering water. Be really careful not to let any water or steam come into contact with your chocolate or it will seize. Cook cream, milk and chocolate over a low heat, stirring occasionally until it comes together as a smooth mixture.

Step Two: I use a wire whisk on my Kitchenaid for this step, but you could use any electric mixer. Place the chocolate mixture into a large bowl and allow to cool for about 10 minutes. On a low-medium speed, begin to mix. Add the vanilla, egg yolks (one at a time) and sugar. Once all ingredients are added, mix for one further minute. Remove the mixture and place in the refrigerator to chill for around half an hour. I’ve been known to leave it at this step overnight.

Step Three: The churning bit. With most ice cream makers, there’s a special bowl that needs to be frozen to use. The principal is that they’re hollow and filled with a liquid that freezes solid. I keep mine in the freezer all the time it’s not in use. That way, it’s ready when I need it, rather than having to think 24 hours in advance. The most common mistake when making homemade ice cream is not having this bowl sufficiently frozen.

I try to make sure my chilled chocolate mixture is in a bowl that’s easy to pour from, just to try and cut down on the mess factor. Following your ice cream maker’s instructions, turn the machine on and slowly pour in the chocolate mix. Churn for around 25 or 30 minutes – obviously this will vary between machines. The KitchenAid starts to make a ‘clicking’ noise as the ice cream rises up the paddle, letting you know when it’s ready. At this point, your ice cream will be more like a soft serve than anything you can scoop, so it really needs to go back in the freezer – covered – for about two hours. For the recipe I’m making later in the week, I froze mine in a square slice tin.

Enjoy with strawberries, raspberries or simple whipped cream.

*It’s important to eat your chocolate ice cream within four days due to the raw egg factor.

Mandy Wrangles says: There’s no doubt Neil Perry is one of Australia’s most distinguished, premiere chefs. Not only does he operate a string of highly successful restaurants, is a regular on our television screens and is the creator of airline Qantas’s menus – he also finds time to write gorgeous cookbooks and share his creations us.

Simply Good Food is Perry’s sixth cookbook, and delivers exactly what the title offers: Simple recipes made with fresh, quality ingredients. Retailing at $49.99, this is not just for Foodies, but it also doubles as a stunning coffee table book. Its hard cover, heavy papers and stylish matt photography makes it a book to ogle over in more ways than one.

Divided into sections covering a few of Neil’s favourite cocktails, soups, salads and pasta dishes, followed by meat dishes such as chicken, pork, beef, veal and lamb recipes, the real knock-out dishes are, for me, the Asian banquets, Mediterranean shared tables and Mexican Feasts. I love this kind of ‘open table’ dining with family and friends – it’s a great way to keep everyone happy!

Recipes at the top of my list to try out include:

• Smoked Ocean Trout Dip With Lemon Thyme Toast
• Chicken Wings in Vietnamese Caramel Sauce (omg, wow – right?)
• Veal Escalopes With Artichokes and Prosciutto (I’m a fiend for both artichokes and prosciutto, so this sounds utterly heavenly to me)
• Buffalo Mozzarella, Capsicum and Onion Salad (so simple, so stunning, so delicious)

And then, there’s the desserts.

• Key Lime Pie (because, Key. Lime. Pie)
• Passionfruit Syrup Cake With Mango Salsa (anything that combines passionfruit, mango and mint is, in my mind, pretty much perfect)
• And finally, there’s the Bittersweet Chocolate Tart. You’ll just have to take my word for it – and buy the book – on how gorgeous this looks. And simple enough for us mere mortals to make at home.

While Simply Good Food is filled with mouth-watering photographs, I was a little disappointed that not every recipe has an accompanying photo. As someone who eats with their eyes first, (as I think most of do!) these are the recipes I skim over – especially when there are double-spread pages of stylistically stunning (but not so informative) photographs of empty crockery and wine corks taking up space within the pages. I was, however, pleasantly surprised at the simplicity of these recipes – the layout suggested a more complex menu. It’s  all about combining flavours and crisp, ‘clean’ food.

Simply Good Food won’t be left sitting on the coffee table at my place. Pretty sure I’ll be needing it far too often in the kitchen!

Simply Good Food by Neil Perry

Published by Murdoch Books

Photographer – Earl Carter

ISBN – 978-1743360514

Hard Cover, 339 pages

Available now

So, honeycomb is number two in this series of little recipes that will fit together to make one seriously impressive dessert. In the meantime, why not have a trial run?

Fun Fact #1 – There’s no actual honey in honeycomb. Well, not in this version anyway.

Fun Fact #2 – Cooking is science. And what better way to prove it to your kids than watching honeycomb fizz and puff and grow to triple its size?

Fun Fact #3 – Honeycomb is crazy-easy to make.

Fun Fact #4 – Honeycomb isn’t just for kids…

 What You Need:

4 tablespoons of Golden Syrup

1 cup of Caster Sugar

2 teaspoons of Bicarb Soda

 How It’s Done:

Grease a slice or cake tray and set aside.

Add golden syrup and sugar to a large saucepan and bring to the boil.

As soon as it’s boiling, turn the heat down to a low simmer for about 10 to 12 minutes – but stand by to make sure it doesn’t burn.

When you think it’s time, add a drop of the syrup into a glass of water. If it is ready, it will become brittle as soon as it hits the water.

Remove pot from the heat, and place close to your prepared pan on the bench. Add the bicarb and stir vigorously.

It’s important to work fast at this point, because the mixture will foam up instantly and you need to get it into that cake tray as soon as possible.

Leave at room temperature to set, then break into bit sized pieces.

Delish!

Okay, so I’m going to try something a little different over the next week or two. It occurred to me that most of those amazing dessert recipes you find are really just a few simple recipes thrown together. So let’s do just that. I’m going to give you recipes for three sweet, simple goodies and at the end, put them all together for something special.

First up, we have ridiculously easy, and oh-so-chocolatey Brownies.

What You Need:

• 1 ¼ cups of butter
• 4 eggs
• 1 ½ cups of plain flour
• ½ teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 cups of caster sugar
• 2 teaspoon of vanilla
• 1 cup of cocoa (use the best quality you can)

How It’s Done:

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees C. Melt the butter in the microwave, being careful not to burn.

Add to a large mixing bowl – I used my electric mixer with a stir attachment, but these could just as easily be done by hand, probably with less mess (see pic below!).

Add cocoa, then sugar and eggs – one at a time. If using an electric mixer, give a quick blitz for a few seconds between each addition. Stir in the flour. If you are using an electric mixer, remember to use the spill guard, or, like me you’ll end up with flour everywhere.

Bake for aprox. 30 minutes in a greased slice tin – I used a pan about 15cm by 25cm. Remember, brownies don’t spring back quite like a cake when tested, so be careful not to overcook. Allow to cool on a rack for 20 minutes, then slice and serve…although they’re pretty delicious served warm!

 I served mine with a sprinkling of icing sugar, strawberries from my garden and a little chocolate sauce. 

These aren’t chewy cookies; they’re soft and have a great nutty flavour which will never disappoint!

Ingredients:

• 250 gram butter
• 125 gram finely chopped hazelnuts
• 200 gram sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• 375 gram flour

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 and prepare baking sheets.
2. In a mixer add the melted butter, sugar and egg. Mix until fluffy. Once it’s foamy, add in the flour and continue to mix.
3. Fold in the chopped hazelnuts, gently. Using a piping bag, create any shapes you like. I used a cookie press and made them in a flower shape!
4. Allow these to bake for about 10-12 minutes or until lightly browned. Enjoy!