quick strawberry and balsamic ice cream

english strawberries are in season and tasting as wonderful as only strawberries can. strawberries have long been a favourite of mine - i remember my mum telling me that our cook in malawi used to assume i was in the strawberry patch if i’d gone missing.

this ice cream also harks back to my malawi days, taking inspiration from the ice cream that mum used to make, and which is still my absolute favourite – a mix of whipped cream, whipped evaporated milk and condensed milk.

i fancied making a strawberry version and wanted it to taste as much of strawberries as possible so i decided to make a strawberry puree, with sugar and balsamic vinegar (thanks to anna del conte for the inspiration) to bring out the strawberryness, and use this in place of the condensed milk in my usual recipe.

the result is pretty good, made without an ice cream machine or any mid-freezing stirring. it is a bit crumbly compared to the original though so is perhaps better in a cup than a cone, bt it has a wonderfully intense and fresh strawberry flavour. thanks to my friend fran for the photo.

strawberry and balsamic ice-cream

c700g ripe strawberries

200g caster sugar

1 tablsepoon balsamic vinegar

410g tin of evaporated milk, chilled

c400ml double cream (use the evaporated milk tin to measure out an equal amount of cream), chilled

wash and hull the strawberries. dry them thoroughly with kitchen paper then put them in a blender with the sugar. add the balsamic vinegar and blitz until the ingredients have combined to a smooth puree. pour this into a bow, cover and refrigerate for 2-3 hours. the sugar and vinegar will bring out the flavour of the fruit.

whip the evaporated milk until it is thick. in a separate bowl, whip the double cream until it is forms peaks then fold in most of the strawberry  puree – it should still be quite a thick airy mix, if not, use your blender to whisk it up again to soft peak stage.

fold in the evaporated milk mixture and pour into the tub you will freeze it in. drizzle the remaining strawberry puree over the top – it will slowly settle and create a ripple effect in the ice cream. cover and freeze.

take the ice cream out the fridge a little while before you want to eat it to make scooping easier.