Simple English Food. That’s our aim. But its nice to pretend that its actually a bit harder than that sometimes – we all like to be martyrs to the cause.
Take brown bread ice cream – a recipe that I wanted on the menu from day one – hours slaving over hot custards and kneading wholemeal doughs until perfectly formed, sweet baby Jesus!
Problem is, its easier than stealing catch phrases from northern comics.
The power of the internet really comes into its own with old English recipes like this. My final version is an amalgamation of various recipes I found on t’internet with the addition of homemade honey comb.
Adding the condensed milk to the cream – easy as pie…
The basic ice cream
1 pint good quality double cream
1 400ml can of condensed milk
Half vanilla pod
Splash of dark booze (single malt works as does good brandy)
Whisk the cream to peaks, stir in the other ingredients and churn. You can probably just whack it in the freezer too – just stir vigorously after a few hours.
To get the brown bread in the mix I take stale wholemeal bread I’ve baked, blitz for a second or 2 (you want good sized crumbs – maybe 1/4 the size of a Malteser) spread in oven proof dish, add a few good knobs of butter and sprinkle liberally with sugar and Maldon salt (much more sugar than salt of course). Bake this for about 15 mins at 180° until caramelized and crunchy, cool and stir into the ice cream before churning/freezing.
Add the honey comb to take it one step further – melt sugar and golden syrup until bubbling (don’t take it too far). Take off the heat and add bicarb soda (about 1/2 teaspoon). Pour into WELL greased or lined dish and allow to cool. You should then be able to smash it up into little splinters and slithers and add at the same time as the bread crunch.
