Lois likes making this ice cream because it is a cinch (in that you don’t need an ice cream maker or the patience of a saint), it tastes fantastic and is easily special enough to be served on its own as a pudding. Like Delia and her brandy mousse ice cream, I sprinkle it with caramelised almonds as a finishing touch.

Serves 8 to 10 (or 6, depending on how greedy you are!)

Ingredients

For the ice cream:
whites of 2 large eggs
175g demerera sugar
90 ml water
5ml spoon of almond essence
60ml amaretto
450 ml whipping cream
good pinch of salt

For the caramelised almonds:
100g flaked almonds
50g caster sugar

Method

Whisk the egg whites with the salt until they stand in soft peaks. Dissolve the sugar with water and boil rapidly for three minutes. Pour in a thin stream onto the egg whites while you continue whisking. Then, whisk in the almond essence and amaretto.

Whisk the cream until thick (but will still slip off a spoon) and fold into the egg white mixture.

Then freeze overnight for the creamiest, yummiest ice cream you have ever made – and absolutely no need for lifting in and out of the freezer to break down ice crystals.

For the caramelised almonds, heat the sugar in a large frying pan and add the almonds, moving them around with a wooden spoon.  When the sugar begins to melt, the almonds begin to turn a golden brown. Quickly transfer to a large plate before they burn.  Separate the almonds as much as possible as they cool, and then transfer to an airtight container until needed.

Delicious!