Vanilla Ice Cream

(SERVES 8)

• 25 g/1 oz/ ¼ cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 2 eggs, separated
• 10 ml/2 tsp vanilla essence (extract)
• 300 ml/ ½ pt/1 ¼ cups skimmed milk
• 10 ml/2 tsp artificial sweetener granules
• 300 ml/ ½ pt/1 ¼ cups low-fat double (heavy) cream

Put the flour in a pan with the egg yolks and half the vanilla essence. Whisk in a little of the milk until well blended, then stir in the remainder. Cook over a moderate heat, stirring all the time, until thick and smooth, then simmer for 3 minutes, stirring. Sweeten to taste. Cover with a circle wet greaseproof (waxed) paper and leave to cool. When cold, whisk the egg whites until peaking, then the cream with the remaining vanilla until soft peaking. Fold the cream, then the egg whites into the cold custard and sweeten with the artificial sweetener. The mixture should taste very sweet now as it will taste very sweet now as it will less so when frozen. Turn into a plastic container with a lid and freeze for 3 hours. When half-frozen, frozen thoroughly to break up the ice crystals. Freeze again until firm. Remove from the freezer to the fridge about 20 minutes before serving to soften slightly.