Pete Goffe-Wood’s Christmas pudding ice cream

Ingredients

• 60g almonds (or less, depending on taste)
• 175g dried fruit mix
• 25g glacé cherries
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 125ml rum or brandy
• 10 egg yolks
• 375g sugar
• 500ml milk
• 500ml cream
• 10ml vanilla essence

Method

1. Lightly roast the almonds and roughly chop them.
2. Mix the nuts, dried fruit, lemon juice and zest together, and soak them in the rum for a day or so. This is not essential, but it gives a much better flavour.
3. Combine the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
4. In a small pot, combine the milk, cream and vanilla essence. Bring to the boil, then allow the mixture to cool to a simmer before adding to the egg and sugar mixture.
5. Whisk the two mixtures together and return to heat, stirring constantly. Be careful not to let it boil, unless you would like very expensive scrambled eggs.
6. Once the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and a line drawn through it stays intact without dribbling, remove it from the heat and transfer to another container.
7. Add the rum/fruit mixture, allow to cool, then churn in an ice cream machine. Alternatively, put it into a container in the freezer and mix by hand every 10 to 15 minutes.