Do you make ice cream from scratch? You will want to after I show you how easy it is! Hi there. It's Jillian here with this month's installment of Delicious Bites. When I read through your suggestions for Delicious Bites last month when I shared my Strawberry Swirl Cheesecake recipe, many of you asked for an ice cream recipe so here is my top secret, never ever shared before recipe for strawberry ice cream.

Many years ago I went out for dinner with my sister and for dessert we had the most delicious strawberry ice cream served in a brandy snap basket which were all the rage in the ‘80’s. I came home and vowed to replicate the dessert. It’s been through a few incarnations in its time but this version has been around the longest. I've been nurturing my strawberry plant for a few months now hoping to use a few home grown berries in the ice cream but so far all it's managed to produce are the 2 teeny weeny strawberries you can see.

Technically this is a strawberry semifreddo rather than an ice cream so don’t worry if you don’t own an ice cream maker because you don't need one. You can make the strawberry ice cream in the freezer but if you do own an ice cream maker please don’t whip the cream before placing it into the churn. I did that once at my parents place and ended up with a batch of strawberry butter chunk ice cream, which I can tell you was not nice at all.

There are a few steps in this recipe starting with making a strawberry puree. You could puree the strawberries in a blender or food processor but I prefer to use an old fashioned potato masher, that way there are lots of chunky bits of strawberry all through your ice cream. There's no tricky egg custard to make, instead you make a sort of eggy mousse and add all the other ingredients to the mousse.

Years ago, I used to whip up those brandy snap baskets but these days I serve the ice cream as is just topped with a few extra berries. Home made strawberry ice cream tastes so much better than anything you’ve ever bought that you might become mildly addicted to it! My Dad makes his own version and his strawberry ice cream is legendary. I've also made this ice cream using pureed mango instead of strawberries and my Dad assures me his Passion fruit version is divine.

Here's the recipe for you. I do hope you like it and if you try the recipe with any other variations, I’d love to know how they worked for you.

Strawberry Ice Cream 250 grams strawberries 1/2 cup caster sugar the juice of half a lemon 2 large eggs 300 mls cream

Wash and hull the strawberries. Mash roughly in a bowl. Add half the sugar and the lemon juice and mix until the sugar has dissolved. Place to one side. Combine the eggs and the remaining sugar in a medium bowl and whisk until combined. Place a small saucepan of water onto the stove and bring to a simmer. Place the bowl containing the egg mixture over the simmering water and make sure the bottom of the bowl doesn't make contact with the water. Continue to whisk the mixture until it becomes light and fluffy and is lukewarm to the touch.

Remove the bowl from the heat and continue to whisk the egg mixture until it’s three times its initial size and has returned to room temperature. Place the bowl in the fridge to cool. If using an ice cream maker, combine the egg mixture, the cream and the strawberry mixture together in one bowl and place in the ice cream maker. Churn the mixture until it sets then scrape from the machine into a storage container and place in the freezer until it's time to serve.

If not using an ice cream maker, whip the cream in a medium size bowl until soft peaks form. Gently mix the cream, the strawberry mixture and the egg mixture until just combined. Place into a sealed container and freeze until the outer edges are firm and the centre is soft. Remove the ice cream from the freezer, place the contents into a bowl and stir until smooth. Replace the ice cream mixture back into the storage container, seal and return to the freezer until set.

About 30 minutes before serving time, take the ice cream from the freezer and place it in the fridge to allow the ice cream to soften a little.

Thanks for all your ideas for ‘delicious bites’. I’m working on a few of them so look out for your suggestions appearing in the column in the coming months. See you all again next month! - Jillian

(images/text: jillian lieboff)