Cut the calories and the preservatives with a simple and tasty summer ice cream recipe. No mixing or machines involved!

One of my strongest memories as a child is sitting around in the sweltering heat, trying to persuade my mother that ice-cream has nutritional qualities that would make it worth having every day. Being an extremely health conscious person, ever aware of the sugar levels in processed foods, my mother decided that the best way to appease me and my siblings was to make the ice cream herself.

Of course, as a child half the fun comes from doing it yourself, so the other part of the memory is of holding the egg beater and then communally deciding what flavour to make the ice-cream this time. Whether it was fruit, chocolate or plain, the inevitable conclusion was a smooth summer treat, which my mother didn’t feel as guilty about.

Although summer this year has just begun, the Middle Eastern sun can take its toll, so a nice bowl of ice cream is just as welcome now as it was when I was a kid.

All these years later, my mother’s recipe is now mine to play around with, to change the flavour depending on my mood; sometimes adding crushed berries, or dates, or even throwing in some halva (like that used in these tehina cookies) to give it that nice Middle Eastern twist.

While I didn’t really appreciate the value of the home-made product, now I realise just how much better it is to do-it-yourself, where you control the amount of sugar and you are assured that there are no unnecessary preservatives or additives.

So this recipe can now by yours to adapt to your personal taste. In the daily hustle and bustle of our busy lives, this recipe is well worth adding to your collection of super-fast recipe, taking less than half and hour to make. So have three bowls ready and enjoy the results!

Ingredients:

4 eggs

250 ml cream

5 tbs. sugar

Your choice of flavour (berries, halva, chocolate, vanilla…)

Method:

1. Separate the eggs and cream together the egg yolks with 3 tbs. of sugar until they are light and creamy

2. Beat the cream till stiff with 1 tbs. of sugar and then add this to the egg yolks.

3. Add in your choice of flavouring. If it is chocolate, melt it and add it in, or if you have chosen halva or fruit you can choose to chop or blend it before adding it to the cream and egg yolk mixture. Hand-picked strawberries are also great.

4. Finally, beat up the egg whites and add the last 1 tbs. of sugar once the whites are already stiff. Then gently fold the two mixtures together

This will make approximately 1 liter of ice-cream, which will freeze overnight. Scoop it out the next hot day and enjoy a deliciously smooth summer treat. Enjoy!

Want some more mouth-watering summer treats?
Make Your Own Strawberry Jam
A Light Apricot Chutney
Mulberry Chutney Recipe