Apple Crumble Ice Cream

I did a very grown up thing last week - I bought a house with my fiance! Granted, it's a badly designed, hideously decorated, 1960's build, terraced ex-council house but hey, it's ours and it's a start. We also already live in it so there's no need to move house, and now that we own it we can do something about the hideous decor (a visual onslaught of colours, patterns and textures, including the most intricately patterned artex ceiling I have ever seen (painted peach....the horror!)). Doing it up is going to be a very slow and frustrating process involving a huge amount of wallpaper stripping; it also needs a new kitchen and bathroom, but I think we may have to save up a bit before we can afford such drastic improvements so sadly I'll have to put up with my awful oven for a while longer (sob).

We are also firmly into Autumn now, with a chill in the air and a strong breeze; the fruit on the trees in the garden is ripe and ready for picking and I have plenty of cooking apples fresh from the garden to use up. I also had lots of egg yolks leftover from making meringues (recipe coming soon!) and what better to make with egg yolks than ice cream? This apple crumble ice cream combines all of the flavours of a classic apple crumble into a delicious ice cream. A sweet vanilla custard is mixed with tart apple puree with a hint of cinnamon and then frozen; once churned a generous helping of crisp, buttery, baked crumble pieces are folded through; the result is utterly addictive.

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Apple Crumble Ice Cream

Author Domestic Gothess

Ingredients

Apples:

• About 550g tart apples (19.5oz) unprepared weight, bramleys are best
• 25 g ((2 tbsp)) butter
• 50 g ((¼ cup + 1 tsp)) light brown soft sugar
• ½ tsp cinnamon

Custard:

• 300 ml (1 + ¼ cups) double cream
• 300 ml (1 + ¼ cups) full fat milk
• 120 g (½ cup + 2tbsp) caster sugar
• 6 egg yolks
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• pinch salt

Crumble:

• 120 g (1 cup) plain flour
• 65 g (¼ cup) butter
• 65 g (⅓ cup) sugar

Instructions

• Peel, core and dice the apples. Place in a pan along with the butter, sugar, cinnamon and a splash of water. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the apples are very soft. You can add a bit more water if needed but it should be fairly dry. Use a stick blender to puree the cooked apples until they are completely smooth. Cover and set aside.
• Pour the cream into a large bowl and set a fine mesh sieve over the top. Heat the milk and sugar together in a saucepan until just coming up to the boil.
• Meanwhile, whisk together the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl. Gradually pour the hot milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Pour the mixture back into the pan.
• Cook over a low heat, stirring constantly until the custard has thickened, don't allow it to get too hot or it will scramble. Pour the custard through the sieve into the cream and whisk together. Whisk in the vanilla, salt and apple puree. Cover and refrigerate until completely cold.
• While the custard is chilling make the crumble. Preheat the oven to 190C/375F/gas mark 5. Place the flour in a bowl and rub in the butter using your fingertips until it resembles wet sand. Stir in the sugar.
• Spread the mixture out in a thin layer on a baking tray, press it down gently but don't pack it too firmly together. Bake for 10-15 minutes until golden then remove from the oven and leave to cool.
• Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturers instructions. About a minute before it has finished churning add most of the crumble, breaking up any larger pieces.
• Transfer the ice cream to a lidded container, scatter over the remaining crumble and freeze until firm.