Honeysuckle ice cream with rose syrup & salted almond brittle

The inspiration behind this dish is quite simply my garden. There is the most amazing honeysuckle bush at the back of our cottage that clings to the brick and flint walls and has clearly been in residence for years. It fills a corner of our patio with sunshine coloured flowers during the summer, flooding the evening air with a heady aroma which attracts bees and butterflies alike. It lead me to research whether you can use these beautiful flowers in cookery; turns out you can!

Serves: 4 - 6

Difficulty: Medium

Time: 1.5 hrs (plus 2 days)

Ingredients

For the ice cream

  • 40g honeysuckle flowers
  • 230 ml double cream
  • 230 ml full fat milk
  • 110g caster sugar
  • 3 large eggs (yolks only)
  • small pinch of salt
  • Dried rose petals (optional)

For the salted almond brittle

  • 100g flaked almonds
  • 100g golden caster sugar
  • 50g butter
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 tbsp water

For the rose syrup

Honeysuckle ice cream with rose syrup & salted almond brittle

The inspiration behind this dish is quite simply my garden. There is the most amazing honeysuckle bush at the back of our cottage that clings to the brick and flint walls and has clearly been in residence for years. It fills a corner of our patio with sunshine coloured flowers during the summer, flooding the evening air with a heady aroma which attracts bees and butterflies alike. It lead me to research whether you can use these beautiful flowers in cookery; turns out you can!

Method

For the ice cream

  1. You will need to start the ice cream 2 days ahead of wanting to serve it; this is to allow the honeysuckle flowers to infuse and flavour the ice cream base.
  2. Pick the honeysuckle flowers and check for any little insects. Give the flowers a gentle rinse and drain on kitchen paper.
  3. Next start on the ice cream base. Add the cream and milk to a medium size saucepan and gently bring to a simmer.
  4. While your cream and milk are heating up add the yolks, sugar and salt to a medium size bowl and whisk vigorously until it turns a pale yellow and the sugar has dissolved.
  5. Once the cream and milk has reached simmering point slowly pour it over the yolk and sugar mix, whisking continuously. You don’t want scrambled eggs!
  6. Pour the mixture back in to the saucepan and continue to whisk over a medium heat until it begins to thicken slightly (approx 2 mins).
  7. Remove the pan from the heat, transfer the mix to a clean bowl and leave to cool completely.
  8. Finally add the honeysuckle flowers once the mixture is completely cold and stir in.
  9. Cover the bowl with cling film and place in the fridge for 2 days. Honeysuckle flowers have a very subtle flavour so it will need this time in order to infuse fully.
  10. After 2 days sieve the mixture to remove the flowers. Add the strained mix to your ice cream machine and churn as per the instructions (see hints and tips).

For the salted almond brittle

  1. Gently toast the flaked almonds in a dry frying pan over a medium heat. Keep an eye on them as they can suddenly turn and burn with very little warning.
  2. Prepare a baking tray by lining it with baking parchment; then spread the toasted almonds over the top in an even layer.
  3. Add the sugar, butter, salt and 4 tbsp of water in to the same frying pan (to save on washing up) and heat gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves. Increase the heat and boil the mixture for about 5 – 7 mins or until it turns to a light golden brown. Continue to stir occasionally to make sure it caramelises evenly.
  4. Once golden, tip the caramel over the almonds and leave to cool completely before breaking the brittle in to shards for serving.

For the rose syrup

  1. See rose bellini

To plate

  1. Add three scoops of the honeysuckle ice cream to a bowl and drizzle generously with the rose syrup. Add a couple of the almond brittle shards and some dried rose petals.

honeysuckle_icecream_body

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