Summer is edging ever closer and with it, we're all looking at spending countless hours by the pool, being lazy and taking all the time in the world to move even just a toe. Okay, maybe that's just me.

Beside the usual plans you'll have this summer, perhaps you will find yourself hanging around home for a while. And especially if you have kids, you will perpetuate the summer tradition of getting ice creams every now and then. You've been to the ice cream shop around the corner and tried the latest flavours; supporting the "local" economy and you've been having your regular brands from the supermarket... 

So, how about doing your own ice cream at home? I know, I know. I can hear you talking out-loud to your computer screen saying, "Sounds good, but don't I need an ice cream machine? Well, here is the good news, you don't! 

With the following recipe, you will be able to create your very own ice cream without a machine and the possibilities of flavours are endless. As a matter of fact we have just launched the below on our new pool menu with a few little touches added such as verbena apricot semis-pris and Breton shortbread - instant success! 

Try This at Home! 

The only equipment you will really need is 3cm diameter tubes, either in metal or plastic and wooden popsicle sticks.

Ingredients

2 egg yolks

20gm white sugar

10gm glucose

15ml lemon juice

Zest of 1 lemon

90gm whipped cream

1 vanilla bean cut lengthwise

40 gm mascarpone (if you want to make your own I include a recipe in my latest book, Got Cheese - www.gregoiremichaud.com/store).

You will also need some chocolate for the coating and which ever nuts you fancy to blend in the chocolate. For that particular recipe, I used white chocolate mixed with cocoa butter to make the coating thinner, plus I mixed some chopped caramelised almonds in it. 

Method

Mix the yolk, sugar, glucose and lemon juice and whip it over a hot water bath until it reaches 85 degrees Celsius. Add the lemon zest and scrape the vanilla seeds in the mixture; Cool the whipped mixture on an ice water bath. Fold in carefully the whipped cream and the mascarpone. Fill the metal tubes and freeze - once half frozen; insert the wooden stick. Melt your white chocolate and mix it with the chopped caramelised almonds. Dip the frozen parfait in the white chocolate, shake the excess and store in the freezer.

Endlessly Customisable

The greatest aspect of this recipe is the endless customisable options. You may decide to change your flavour for the ice cream with cream cheese, chocolate, strawberry or coffee... and you might prefer a dark chocolate and pecan nuts coating or even a milk chocolate and lime zest coating!   

For the coating, a ratio of 3:1 - chocolate to cocoa butter respectively gives you a fairly good texture and thickness. If you can't source cocoa butter from the supermarket, you can replace it with coconut fat or even butter, but to a lesser ratio; 4:1 will do fine. 

The next question that will pop from almost anyone attempting to do that recipe is how can I take out the frozen ice cream from the tube without using hot water and turning all my efforts into a half melted mess? Here is a simple trick you can use. You will need some plastic sheets (rhodoid clear plastic film - like the one used for projectors) and cut them to fit the inner size of the tube. If you're doing it with a bunch of kids, ask them to measure the width needed for the plastic - a little math practice during school holidays won't hurt! For example if your tubes are 3 cm, you will simply need to find out the circumference of the circle. Still remember? 

Once you placed your plastic sheets in the tubes, you can cover one end of the tube with cling film, fill it with your ice cream base and freeze it. That way, it will come out without any effort and will still be sharp and round. 

The great advantage of this recipe, which needs no machine, is the smooth texture and nice balance of flavour you'll obtain. It lies in the cooking of the eggs and sugar into foam giving you the magic touch once frozen. And like any ice cream, they are better enjoyed if stored at -10°C rather than -20°C! When we use them, we take them out of the freezer for about 5 minutes and then the texture is smooth as silk! 

Doing your own at home is fun, preservative-free, you know what's going in it and you can adapt the sweetness and flavours to your liking. You can produce a dozen different ice creams and store them in the freezer - definitely a much better and fun alternative to industrial ice creams!