Skinny Banana Ice Cream

This is such a simple idea that I can't believe I hadn't come across it before. I made enough for four people but obviously I am only one, so I froze the rest and I have to say it was better softer the first time than frozen for a couple of days when it went a bit grainy. As the original poster notes, don't go overboard with this, stick to one serving and it'll be 0PP if you go over that, start counting because although fruit is 0PP if you eat a whole lot of it you won't lose weight. This is lovely with berries or chocolate chips.

Skinny Banana Ice Cream (from Simple Nourished Living)
(Serves 4)
(0 WW ProPoints per serving)

4 ripe bananas, cut into chunks and frozen

Put the frozen banana pieces in a food processor or high powered blender.

Blitz until creamy, 2-3 minutes, scraping down the sides as needed.

Serve immediately if you like a soft texture. For a firmer texture, transfer the mixture to an airtight container and place it in the freezer for about an hour. If the mixture gets too hard, let it soften for about 10 mins.

Glace en Surprise or Baked Alaska

This is the first time I have ever eaten baked Alaska, it's one of those nursery puds from people's childhoods, it was really good but I think I over did it a bit as we had a whole small tub of ice cream between three of us! But we demolished the lot!!

Glace en Surprise (from Cordon Bleu Cookery Course)

(Serves 4)

2 eggs

butter

sugar

flour

For the meringue

2 egg whites

4oz caster sugar

2-3 drops vanilla essence

Caster sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 180C.

Weight out the ingredients so that each weighs to the same as the two eggs. If you have digital scales weigh the egg and then weigh each the butter, flour and sugar to the same weight. Cream together the butter and the sugar and then beat in the eggs. Fold in the flour with a metal spoon and bake for 20 mins until golden brown.

Have the sponge cake and the ice cream ready made. Choose a plate or silver dish and chill it well.

To prepare the meringue: whisk the egg whites stiffly, add 2-3 rounded tsp of the caster sugar and vanilla essence and whisk again until stiff. Fold in the remaining sugar. Fill into a piping bag.

Place the sponge cake on the dish, scoop out the ice cream and arrange in top of the sponge. Pipe the meringue over the ice cream to cover it completely. Dust the meringue well with caster sugar, leave for 1 min, then put the cake into the oven and cook for about 4 mins or until the meringue is lightly browned. Serve at once.

Loganberry Ripple Ice Cream

This is the second of the no-churn ice creams I have made this summer and it was utterly delicious. Even better than that peach and ginger one. It s incredibly moreish! I'm so glad I froze some loganberries so I can make more!

Loganberry Ripple Ice Cream (adapted from Tinned Tomatoes)
(Makes 2l)

375g tin condensed milk
600ml double cream
seeds from 1 vanilla pod (or 1 tsp vanilla extract)
300g loganberries
5 tbsp icing sugar

Cook the loganberries and icing sugar gently, until the berries begin to collapse, then remove them from the heat and sieve into a bowl to remove the pips. 

In a large bowl, whisk together the condensed milk, cream and vanilla until it starts to thicken. This takes about 5 minutes with an electric hand whisk. 

Pour some of the loganberry puree into the ice cream mixture and stir only enough to swirl through. 

Pour in a layer of ice cream into a box, then pour over some puree, then another layer of each. Until you have filled your box. Keep a little of the puree to pour on top of the ice cream. 

Pop the ice cream in the freezer to set, preferably overnight. Take out of the freezer about 15-20 minutes before you want to serve it, to let it soften.

Peach and Ginger No Churn Ice Cream

It has definitely been the weather for ice cream and I had a hankering for making homemade ice cream but I don't have the space for an ice cream maker nor do I want to be stirring something every hour for hours so I was really happy when I found lots of recipes for no churn ice cream. This peach and ginger ice cream is so good, my only advice is to make sure that your peaches are really ripe as otherwise when they freeze they become ridiculously hard, so hard that I had trouble getting chunks out of the ice cream as the spoon wouldn't go though!

Peach and Ginger No Churn Ice Cream (from Waitrose Magazine July 2013)
(Makes 2 litres)

6 ripe yellow-fleshed peaches
600ml pot double cream
397g condensed milk
12 pieces crystallised ginger, roughly chopped

Place the peaches in a heatproof bowl and pour over boiling water. Leave for 10 minutes then peel off the skins and remove the stones. Roughly chop and set aside.

Whisk the cream with the condensed milk until it has thickened slightly and falls in ribbons from the whisk.

Add the peach chunks and chopped ginger to the whisked cream, stirring gently with a spatula. Pour into a 2-litre plastic container and place in the freezer for 3-4 hours or overnight until frozen. Take out of the freezer approx 15-20 mins before serving.

Skinny Mango Milkshake

This is a really simple milkshake to make and it can be made really easily with a hand blender. I've been trying to find different things to drink rather than just fizzy drinks or water and I came up with this milkshake. It's very adaptable, I've used bananas as well, and peach although the peach didn't work so well as there were too many stringy bits!

Skinny Mango Milkshake
(Serves 1)

300ml skimmed milk
1/2 large mango, roughly chopped
1 scoop light vanilla ice cream

Put all the ingredients into a blender or pot for a hand blender. Blend until smooth. Pour into a glass and drink.

Margarita Ice Cream

At the beginning of January I went to a friend's house for her birthday party. She made absolutely fantastic Mexican food; quesedillas, chicken fajitas and then margarita ice cream and brownies. We also have lovely mojitos to go with the meal. Ever since then I have been craving margarita ice cream and as the recipe is so easy I had a go at making it myself and it is just so good! It doesn't require any churning, or stirring with a spoon, just mix, stick it in the freezer overnight and eat. Delicious own its own or with brownies!



Margarita Ice Cream (from Nigella Express)
(Serves 6)

125ml lime juice
2 tbsp tequila
3 tbsp cointreau or triple sec
150g icing sugar
500ml double cream

Pour the lime juice, tequila and cointreau into a bowl and stir in the sugar to dissolve.

Add the cream and then softly whip until thick and smooth not stiff.

Spoon this into an airtight container to freeze overnight. This ice cream does not need softening before serving as it will not freeze too hard.