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Kitty Travers’ white peach and blackcurrant splits (pictured above)
During a recent traffic jam, on a day so hot it felt stagnant and seemingly eternal, I found myself in a private reverie of superiority. My fellow drivers, slumped in their baking metal shells, were observers to my good fortune: a homemade blackcurrant and white peach ice lolly – sharp and fruity, with a delicate almond flavour (the result of having used slightly underripe peaches) – plucked from the freezer in a rare moment of foresight. I licked it with the conviction that it was the only object of desire between Elephant and Castle and Acton Central in London. Ice lollies are fab(!) You will need silicone moulds and some wooden sticks.
Prep 5 min
Cook 30 min
Freeze 10 hr
Makes 800ml (about 5 large ice lollies)
125g blackcurrants (frozen are OK)
225g water
50g sugar
Edible flowers, to decorate
For the peach puree
300g white peaches (about 3 medium flat or small round peaches)
Juice of 1 lemon
50g water
50g sugar
Put the blackcurrants, water and sugar in a small pan, and simmer over a low heat until the fruit bursts and the sugar dissolves.
Use a stick blender or food processor to puree the blackcurrant mixture until perfectly smooth – if you’re using a stick blender it’s easiest to do this in a small jug. Strain the puree through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and set aside to cool.
Wash the peaches, then take a clean container and slice the peaches into it, removing as much flesh from the pit as you can. Add the lemon juice, water and sugar, then puree until perfectly smooth.
Strain the white peach puree into a clean bowl or small jug that can easily be poured from.
Laying some silicone lolly moulds flat on a tray, insert the wooden sticks leaving approximately a third of the stick visible outside the mould (this helps make your lolly more stable). Pour the peach puree to half-fill each mould – up to the level of the stick should suffice. Freeze for two hours or until the peach layer is frozen enough to add the blackcurrant puree without the two flavours mixing. Pour the blackcurrant puree on top, then freeze overnight.
To decorate the lollies with edible petals (lilac, pansy, marigold, say), line a sheet tray (or something similar that will fit in the freezer) with parchment paper. Working quickly and carefully, pop the lollies out of their silicone moulds, and dip each one into a cup of apple juice before “sticking” the petals to the lolly surface. Return to the freezer for a couple of minutes before serving. Eat within one week.
Matthew Adlard’s fresh mint semifreddo
Fresh mint is such an underrated ingredient in baking, but it brings a clean, vibrant taste compared with artificial extracts. Here, I’ve paired it with chocolate as a nod to the classic mint choc chip ice-cream. A semifreddo is typically made with either a pâte à bombe or Italian meringue base, but I prefer the former method as it creates a richer, more luxuriant texture thanks to the additional fat from the egg yolks. While it requires a little precision when making the sugar syrup, the results are well worth it. I’ve made this in a loaf tin, but it’s perfect for individual portions in small silicone moulds, too.
Prep 5 min
Infuse 30 min
Cook 30 min
Freeze 6 hr+
Serves 8-10
40g fresh mint leaves, stalks removed
400g double cream, plus extra to top up
30g water
20g honey
115g caster sugar
6 large egg yolks (110g)
100g dark chocolate curls
A pinch of flaked salt
For the chocolate shell
100g 70% dark chocolate
10g neutral/coconut oil
Lightly grease a 900g loaf tin and line it with clingfilm (or baking paper for a cleaner finish); set aside.
Gently bash the mint leaves to release their oils, then add them to a saucepan along with the cream. Heat, stirring occasionally, until the cream is steaming, then remove the pan from the heat and cover with a lid. Leave to infuse for 30 minutes.
Pass the infused cream through a sieve on a tared scale, and top it up to 400g with fresh cream. Put this in the fridge to chill.
For the pâte à bombe, add the water, honey and sugar to a small saucepan, and put over a medium heat.
Meanwhile, add the egg yolks to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment and whisk on medium until thicker in consistency.
Once the sugar mixture reaches 118C on a digital thermometer, slowly pour it over the whisking egg yolks. It will look quite thin initially, but continue to whisk until the bowl is cool to the touch and the mixture holds a ribbon – about three to five minutes.
Put the infused cream in a bowl and whisk until it reaches medium-soft peaks.
Fold the cream in two parts through the pâte à bombe base. Finally, tip in the chocolate curls, a pinch of flaked salt, and fold to combine. Pour the mixture into the lined tin and freeze for a minimum of six hours, ideally overnight.
To unmould, briefly warm the outside of the tin, then turn out on to a serving plate and peel away the lining. Pop it back in the freezer.
For the chocolate shell, add the chocolate and oil to a small bowl and stir over a pan of gently simmering water, until melted. Remove it from the heat and cool for a minute. Working quickly, pour it over the semifreddo, using the back of a spoon to drip it down the sides, then gently ripple the top. Let the chocolate shell set for a minute before serving.
Terri Mercieca’s salted pistachio no-churn ice-cream and olive oil biscuits
I recently went on a weekend getaway with my girlfriend Ellie to Cadiz in Andalucia, southern Spain. The standout dessert was a pistachio panna cotta with olive oil and salt at El Faro. Yes, I did say pistachio, which I have been avoiding with all the Dubai chocolate hype, but stay with me. Pistachios are wonderful little green nuts of joy, and that flavour combination has been on repeat in my head ever since. As we walked home through the cobbled streets in the balmy air, I thought how good it would be to combine tortas de aceite (olive oil biscuits) with a salted pistachio ice-cream, plus a drizzle of Spanish olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt to finish. It’s my nod of gratitude to Andalucian cuisine.
Tortas de aceite originate from Seville and are a classic Andalucian breakfast pastry. The name means “oil cakes” and the traditional recipe uses olive oil, anise and sesame. We used to make this at The Bennelong, Sydney, in the 1990s so I have had this recipe in my back pocket for 30 years. This version keeps the spirit of the original but swaps in fennel and pistachio to echo the flavours of the ice-cream.
Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Rest 1 hr 20 min
Freeze 1 hr
Makes 10 sandwiches
125ml olive oil
5g fennel seeds
10g pistachios, finely ground, plus extra ground pistachios for rolling
5g instant yeast
30ml warm water
60g caster sugar
60ml white wine (or water)
280g plain flour
Demerara sugar, for sprinkling
For the salted pistachio ice-cream
200g pistachio paste (70% nuts)
100g evaporated milk
75g whole milk
500g double cream (48% fat)
397g condensed milk
5g sea salt flakes
Gently heat the olive oil in a pan until it reaches about 120-130C on a kitchen thermometer – if you don’t have one, drop in a fennel seed and see if it sizzles. Add the fennel seeds and ground pistachios and turn off the heat (the seeds and nuts will lightly toast in the residual heat). Leave to cool.
Meanwhile, combine the yeast, warm water and 5g sugar in a small bowl, and leave for 10 minutes until frothy. Add the white wine and remaining sugar to the cooled oil, then mix in the flour followed by the activated yeast. Knead lightly until a dough forms, then cover and rest for one hour, until puffed slightly.
Heat the oven to 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6. Halve the dough and roll each half out thinly between two pieces of baking paper so you have two 40cm x 30cm sheets, about 3mm thick. Put each dough sheet on a flat baking tray, sprinkle evenly with demerara sugar, then bake for five minutes. Turn the tray and bake for a further five minutes until evenly golden – the biscuits will puff to about 4-5mm. Immediately stamp out 20 biscuits using a 9cm cutter while still hot, then leave to cool.
Whisk together the pistachio paste, evaporated milk and whole milk until smooth; set aside. Whisk the double cream in a stand mixer or using a handheld mixer, until firm peaks form. Scrape down the sides, add the condensed milk and salt, and whip again briefly to combine back to soft peaks. Add the pistachio milk mixture and whip to firm peaks.
Line a flat tray with baking paper. Once the tortas are cool, lay half of them flat on the tray and put in the freezer for 10 minutes. Remove and dollop about 40g of the ice-cream mix on to the centre of each biscuit, allowing it to spread naturally to the edges. Gently place a second torta on top but don’t press down. Return to the freezer for 20 minutes.
Remove and roll the exposed ice-cream edges in finely ground pistachios, then freeze again until ready to serve.
You will have ice-cream left over, so freeze it in a container and serve in scoops with the offcuts of the cooked biscuits, a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt flakes.
Natasha Pickowicz’s salted hojicha icebox cake
Icebox cakes are effortless to put together, impressive to look at, and refreshing to eat. In short, they’re everything I love about summer. Here, you’ll steep double cream with powdered hojicha, a nutty, toasty-tasting Japanese green tea that dissolves in liquid with a bit of steady whisking. Salty, buttery crackers taste even more delicious folded and slumped into the soft whip; so do the pleasing caramel crunch of candied peanuts. Best of all, the crisp inclusions aren’t laboriously layered into a tin, like a traditional icebox cake; rather, they are folded into the mixture in a few quick strokes, yielding beautiful slabs as speckled as an Italian terrazzo floor. Serve with extra fudge sauce and candied cherries spooned all over.
Prep 10 min
Chill 2 hr+
Cook 35 min
Freeze 3 hr+
Serves 8
18g ground hojicha
500ml double cream
2 egg yolks
50g caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla extract
½ tsp kosher salt
100g cream cheese, at room temperature
50g candied peanuts
100g Ritz crackers (about 26 crackers), or a similar buttery salted cracker, coarsely crumbled with your fingers
75g fudge sauce, plus extra for serving
Line a 23cm loaf tin with clingfilm or parchment paper, leaving plenty of overhang; set aside.
Whisk the hojicha into the double cream, then leave to steep in the fridge for at least two to three hours.
Pour a small amount of water into a saucepan – so it’s about knuckle deep – and bring to a low simmer over a low heat.
Put the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla extract and salt in a small, heatproof bowl, whisking well to combine. Put the bowl snugly on to the simmering pan and, whisking continuously, cook until the sugar has dissolved and the mix has emulsified and lightened in colour – about three to four minutes.
Remove the bowl from the heat and continue whisking until the mix is room temperature and has noticeably thickened – another three to four minutes. Add the cream cheese and whisk until thick, glossy, and completely smooth; no lumps should remain.
Strain the infused double cream to remove any gritty tea residue, then pour the cream into a medium-sized bowl and whisk, either by hand or with a hand mixer, until stiff peaks form (about five minutes by hand, or two minutes with a mixer).
Transfer the yolk mixture to the whipped cream and gently fold the two together, until completely smooth and bouncy.
Scatter the candied peanuts and Ritz crackers on top, then dollop the fudge sauce all over. Using a spatula, very gently fold it all together, in just a few motions so that the fudge remains streaky.
Pour the mix into the prepared loaf tin and smooth evenly. Bring up the overhanging clingfilm wings to wrap it up, then transfer to the freezer until completely set – about three to four hours.
When ready to eat, invert the loaf tin on to a platter or chopping board, and gently remove the tin. Peel back and discard the clingfilm, revealing the cake underneath, then serve in 2cm-thick slabs with more fudge sauce.
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