Except when it comes to ice cream. I LOVE ice cream in all its forms. Whether it’s a light and refreshing sorbet, thick and creamy frozen yoghurt, or soft and fluffy ice cream, I’ll eat it any way I can get it.

There is not one particular flavour that I like more than the rest either. Whether it’s the old favourites, vanilla, mint choc chip, strawberry or chocolate, or newer versions such as burnt caramel, peanut butter, cheesecake or cookies and cream, I love them all. My mom’s favourite was always rum and raisin, a flavour I could never stand as a child. I think it was her way of stopping us from stealing bites of her ice cream! Now, I love it. There is a version with sherry and raisins in one of my cookbooks – How I Cook by Skye Gyngell. It’s on my list of things to try.

As we enter the festive season and the height of summer, my ice cream machine will be working overtime. Even if you don’t have an ice cream maker, there are many no churn ice creams that you could try. This week’s recipe uses an ice cream maker for best results.

THE ICE CREAM BIBLE – HONEY, LEMON AND THYME ICE CREAM

This recipe book is an ice cream lover’s dream! I wanted to make something a little different for a dinner party and this ice cream was one of the components. It turned out beautifully. The other part of my dessert, a crustless lemon tart, was a complete and utter disaster. So I went to Plan B and which basically meant not serving this ice cream either. I now have a container of this deliciousness all to myself.

Serves 6

500 ml whipping cream

250 ml milk

175 ml fresh thyme sprigs

Grated zest of one lemon

2 eggs

50 ml sugar

125 ml liquid honey

In a medium saucepan, bring cream, milk, thyme and lemon zest to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and let steep at room temperature for 1½hours. Remove thyme sprigs. Reheat over medium heat until steaming.

In a bowl, whisk eggs with sugar until thickened and pale yellow. Stir in honey. Gradually whisk in cream mixture.

Return entire mixture to the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. Be careful not to let it boil. Strain into a clean, large bowl. Let cool to room temperature. Cover and refrigerate until completely cold or overnight.

Stir cream mixture. Transfer to an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. When serving garnish with fresh thyme leaves and a drizzle of honey.

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ooOoo