Sorrel ice-cream with strawberries and meringue recipe

If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, freeze the mixture in a shallow plastic container with a lid, stirring it two or three times over the course of eight hours, to give it a smooth texture. For ease, I’ve suggested buying in meringues, but you’ll have egg whites left over from the ice-cream, so make your own if you’re so inclined. Serves six.

200ml full-fat milk
200ml double cream
1 vanilla pod, split open lengthways and seeds scraped out
4 egg yolks
65g caster sugar
Salt
250g sorrel leaves, roughly chopped
3 tbsp honey
2 lemons; finely grate the zest of 1, then squeeze both to get 60ml juice
400g strawberries, stalks removed and cut into ½ cm-thick slices
40g shop-bought or homemade meringues
10g mint leaves, shredded

Put the milk, cream, vanilla seeds and scraped-out pod in a medium saucepan, and warm gently on a medium heat for about five minutes, until steaming. Turn off the heat and leave to infuse for 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar and a pinch of salt, then pour in about two tablespoons of the milk mixture. Stir, then add the remaining milk mixture bit by bit, whisking continuously, until combined. Once all the milk has been added, quickly rinse out the saucepan, then pour the mixture back in, making sure you scrape in all the vanilla seeds.

Cook the custard on a medium heat for eight to nine minutes, stirring constantly, until it thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon (keep an eye on the heat because you don’t want the custard to boil, or it might split). Strain the custard into a medium-size bowl (remove the vanilla pod, rinse clean and reserve for further use). Stir in 150g sorrel, cover with cling-film, making sure the film touches the surface of the custard, to prevent a skin forming, then leave to cool.

When the custard has cooled, add the honey, lemon zest and remaining sorrel, then blend until completely smooth. Transfer the mix to an ice-cream machine and churn for about 40 minutes (timings will depend on your machine), until frozen and creamy, then transfer to a plastic container with a lid, and freeze.

About 20 minutes before serving, transfer the ice-cream to the fridge, to give it time to soften slightly. Toss the strawberries in the lemon juice and leave to macerate for five minutes. Using a scoop, spoon two ice-cream balls per portion into individual bowls. Break the meringue nests into small chunks and divide them between the bowls. Top with the strawberries and mint, and serve at once.