The Sydney Morning Herald logo
Advertisement

Sweetness and light

Karen Martini
Karen Martini

Vanilla and blackberry caramel ripple ice-cream.
Vanilla and blackberry caramel ripple ice-cream.Marina Oliphant

Not everyone has the time, or the inclination, to spend hours making dessert. Churning your own ice-cream is admirable, but doesn't always fit into a busy schedule. But this doesn't mean you can't impress at the end of a meal.

Vanilla and blackberry caramel ripple ice-cream

This is simple to make and dresses up store-bought ice-cream in a really fresh and flavoursome way. It's ideal for a casual barbecue or party. Serve it in paper cups or frozen tall glasses with fresh berries and long spoons.

300g frozen blackberries (you can use mixed berries)

Advertisement

1L high-quality vanilla ice-cream

200g castor sugar

2 tbsp water

Juice of 1/2 lemon

Fresh berries to serve (optional)

Advertisement

Icing sugar (optional)

1. Take the berries from the freezer and empty into a food processor. Remove the ice-cream from the freezer to soften.

2. Put castor sugar in a small saucepan, add the water and stir. Place over high heat and cook to a medium-coloured caramel without stirring. Watch carefully, as it can burn quickly.

3. Start to blend the berries while slowly pouring the caramel through the feed tube of the food processor. Blitz until smooth. Add the lemon juice and pulse. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon to get all the liquid.

4. Empty ice-cream into a shallow container. Make random holes in the ice-cream to take the berry mixture - you will need enough holes to take about 300 millilitres of liquid. Pour berry mixture into the holes. Flatten out the top and place in the freezer, uncovered, until solid.

Advertisement

5. Scoop across the tray to get the ripple effect and serve with fresh berries dusted with icing sugar.

Serves 8-10

Drink Young Rutherglen muscat, chilled

Tip Fresh berries and icing sugar are a great final touch to this simple spin on an old favourite.

Advertisement

Banana and coconut 'ice-cream' sandwich with chocolate and toasted coconut

This is more creamy ice than ice-cream; it doesn't have the silky texture of a classic churned custard, but the bananas add real richness and texture. Get the kids involved in the sandwiching and dunking. And remember: chocolate-covered fingers are the easiest to clean.

About 600g very ripe banana flesh (5-7 bananas, skin turning black)

500ml coconut cream

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

Advertisement

150g soft brown sugar

400g dark chocolate callets (buttons)

20 rectangular ice-cream wafers

30g toasted coconut chips (shaved)

1. In a food processor add bananas, coconut cream, lemon juice and sugar and blend until smooth.

Advertisement

2. Pour mixture into a rectangular container, about 10 centimetres by 30 centimetres, lined with cling film. Choose a container that best matches the shape of your wafers. Freeze for six hours or overnight.

3. Before assembling, melt chocolate in a small bowl over simmering water. Remove from heat when fully melted.

4. Cut set ice-cream into 10 slices and sandwich together between wafers.

5. Dip one end of the sandwich into the melted chocolate, then into toasted coconut and lie sandwich on a lined tray. Put back in the freezer for five minutes to set the chocolate. Serve.

Serves 10

Advertisement

Coconut and lime icy pole with spiced syrup and pineapple

This is an adult dessert caught up in a childhood memory. The spice syrup has fairly sophisticated flavours and the super-fine pineapple dice with slivers of lime leaf adds refined freshness, but there's no avoiding that it's on a stick. It works best with a flat-sided icy-pole mould; a wooden stick ups the nostalgia.

Ice

300g castor sugar

Advertisement

120ml water

500ml coconut cream

Juice of 3-4 large limes (100ml)

Spice syrup

8cm piece of young ginger, sliced

Advertisement

1 lemongrass stalk, chopped

10 allspice berries

6 cloves

300g Dulce sugar (you can also use soft brown sugar)

100ml water

Advertisement

6 lime leaves

1 small pineapple

1. For the ice, add the sugar and water to a small saucepan, bring to a simmer then take off the heat and leave to cool.

2. In a mixing jug, combine the coconut cream, lime juice and the cooled sugar syrup and pour into icy-pole moulds. Freeze for six hours or overnight.

3. Syrup: crush the ginger, lemongrass, allspice and cloves in a mortar and pestle.

Advertisement

4. Tip crushed spices into a small saucepan, along with the sugar and water, stir and slowly bring to a simmer. Bring to the boil then immediately turn off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.

5. Strain through a fine sieve, pressing with a ladle or the back of a spoon to extract as much syrup as possible. Cool.

6. To serve: shred lime leaves as finely as possible. Peel and finely dice pineapple. Mix together. Unmould icy poles onto plates and spoon lime leaf and pineapple over and drizzle with spice syrup.

Serves About 8

Drink Champagne; Passiona (more nostalgia)

Advertisement

Tip Cling wrap filled icy-pole moulds and push sticks through wrap to help hold in place.

Styling by Caroline Velik. Plates from Mud, spoon from Ex Libris.

All photos by Marina Oliphant.

The best recipes from Australia's leading chefs straight to your inbox.

Sign up
Karen MartiniKaren Martini is a Melbourne-based chef, restaurateur, author and television presenter. She has a regular column in Good Weekend.

From our partners

Advertisement
Advertisement