Champagne ice cream

Hello everyone, I had a lovely day yesterday wandering around the shops in Lane Cove with my friend Anne. There were so many gorgeous things in different shops that we visited, things that you really don't see in the big shopping centres. It was a very good reminder that when you want to do fun shopping, not the boring things on your list, local "High street" shopping really is the way to go. I actually managed to snap up a couple of things for which I had been looking for ages and could never quite find what I wanted. In Lane Cove I was dazzled for choice! Lunch was at the Longuie, the local pub, and it was lovely. We sat out on the verandah to have a drink, catching a nice cooling breeze, and then enjoyed a shared platter in the very smartly fitted out dining room. A very good way to spend a summer Saturday!

With the onslaught of meltingly hot days, my thoughts turn to ice cream. This is one that I have made to take to a friend's place to serve with my peach tart. It is so easy and goes down very well with the punters. I have an ice cream machine which gets a fair bit of use in summer. If you don't have one and you like ice cream it's a good investment as the texture of the ice cream you produce is so creamy. If you don't have an ice cream machine, when you make this you will need to take it out of the freezer periodically in the first few hours to run a fork through it, so that you can break up the ice crystals. The recipe comes from SOS Summer.

Have a great week! Love from Jane xxx

Champagne ice cream

Serves 12

What you need:

• 12 egg yolks
• 750ml sparkling wine
• 220g caster sugar
• 80ml liquid glucose (you should be able to buy this at the supermarket; if not, a health food shop or a pharmacy)
• 600ml cream

What you do:

1. Beat the egg yolks, sparkling wine and sugar until pale and thick.
2. Cook in a double saucepan over a low heat, beating constantly.
3. When hot, stir in the glucose until dissolved, then cook until the mixture is thick and coats the back of a spoon.
4. Remove from the heat.
5. When completely cold, stir in the cream.
6. Churn in an ice cream maker.
7. Store in the freezer until ready to serve.