MARMALADE ICE CREAM

Marmalade on toast is one of my favourite things for breakfast, which is odd since I'm really not a fan of oranges and rarely, if ever, eat them. Marmalade, however, I will scoff down quite merrily. It ‘s also a cracking sticky-sweet glaze for cocktail sausages, and thanks to this recommendation from my friend Ali B, marmalade also makes for an incredibly more-ish ice cream flavour!

Legend has it that its name comes to us via Mary Queen of Scots, whose seasickness during her crossing from France to Scotland prompted her maids to cry ‘Ma'ame est malade’ and have the chef whip her up some of his sugary, quincy, seasickness cure. I do believe this theory has been soundly debunked though ...

But I digress. Back to marmalade ice cream, another perfectly summery recipe! I've adapted this from Claire Kelsey's recipe as printed in Metro a couple of weeks ago. Her version uses wholemeal bread and dark brown sugar to be the 'toast' to the marmalade, but the friend who tipped me off to this recipe uses Jamaica ginger cake instead, and I have to say the ginger marmalade combo is simply phenomenal, so that's the way I'm blogging it.

If you're looking to try creating your own ice cream then this is a great recipe to start with as it doesn't require an ice cream maker or any churning. Just fold it and freeze it. The toughest thing you'll have to do is decide whether you're going to go with shreds or without. The correct answer is, obviously, with!

Makes 1 litre

STUFF YOU'LL NEED ...
100g Jamaica ginger cake
2 large egg whites
1 tbsp icing sugar
400g Seville orange marmalade
350ml double cream

OTHER STUFF YOU'LL NEED ...
Electric hand whisker (or a tireless wrist)
Two mixing bowls
Baking tray

WHISK!
Preheat the oven to 170 ºC. While it's heating up, crumble the cake into coarse breadcrumbs that resemble rubble. Spread the crumbs onto a baking tray, pop into the oven for about 10–15 minutes until they are crisp but not hard – you're aiming for them to provide a lovely crunchy contrast to the smooth ice cream. Set them aside until they're cool.

Then ... make a meringue by whisking the egg whites in a scrupulously clean bowl. When they start to form soft peaks, add the icing sugar and continue to whisk for another minute until they turn glossy. Stop before the meringue becomes stiff.

In your largest mixing bowl, mix the marmalade into the double cream, then whisk into soft peaks. Again, stop before it becomes too firm, otherwise you won’t be able to fold your mixtures together.

Use a spatula or a very big spoon to add a little of the meringue to the marmalade and cream, and fold in, turning the bowl are you go. Then add the rest of the meringue into the bowl still using a folding motion. The idea is to retain as much air as possible in the mix.

Lastly, scatter the cooled ginger cake crumbs over the top and repeat the folding and turning, mixing the crumbs through the cream.

Put the mixture in a tub, cover and freeze overnight. This is scoopable almost straight from the freezer.

PS - If you want to try it with 'toast', use 100g wholemeal bread instead of the Jamaica ginger cake, crumble into breadcrumbs and mix with 70g dark brown sugar before baking as above.

There are many more recipes, tasty tips and foodie thoughts on Fiona Booth's blog at www.fifigoesnom.com/