Drambuie Ice Cream Truffles

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Post in collaboration with Drambuie

There's only three ingredients plus toppings in these decadent ice cream truffles flavoured with Drambuie, Scotland's iconic heather honeyed whisky liqueur. These showstopping truffles do take a wee bit of time and effort but the result is a perfect 5th course 'sobremesa moment', over which friends and family can reconnect.

 

What to drink when dinner is done but the night is still young? With restrictions easing and socialising with friends and family once again on the cards I'm delighted to be working with iconic scottish brand Drambuie to champion its place on the dinner table as part of the fifth course, or as the Spanish call it 'sobremesa'. I must confess that the word sobremesa was new to me but it's concept is not. The literal translation to English is 'over the table'. It's the point in the evening when canapes, starter, main and dessert have all been enjoyed, everyone is relaxed and the conversation is in full flow. The spell would be broken by leaving the table so the moment is extended by a 5th course of special treats such as chocolate, cheese, coffee, petit fours, liqueurs or a combination of all of the above. Drambuie is the perfect accompaniment for such a sharing and pairing moment. 

SKIPPY® Peanut Butter S'mores

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Post in smoothly satisfying collaboration with SKIPPY® Peanut Butter

What could possibly be better than s'mores? All the gooey deliciousness of toasted marshmallows, melted chocolate and crumbly sweet biscuit. Add American-style SKIPPY® Peanut Butter to the mix and you've got the perfect creamy and dreamy sandwich. SKIPPY® Peanut Butter S'mores. Smoothly satisfying campfire snacks, a clever twist on a classic which will leave everyone wanting some more.

Peanut butter is well and truly up there at the top echelons of my list of favourite foods. As such I was delighted to be asked by SKIPPY® Brand to team up in a smoothly satisfying partnership and create a creamy and dreamy SKIPPY® Peanut Butter snack. Challenge accepted! SKIPPY® Peanut Butter has a taste like no other peanut butter – creamy, smooth and addictively yummy. But the big question is are you team smooth or team crunchy? I'm crunchy all the way! SKIPPY® Peanut Butter offers both with Extra Smooth ground especially fine so it melts in the mouth or Extra Crunchy which contains large peanut pieces in a deliciously creamy mix.

Rhubarb and Ginger Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding

What's better than Rhubarb Crumble or Bread and Butter Pudding? Rhubarb and Ginger Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding! This twist on two classics is the perfect seasonal comfort food pudding. Delightfuly indulgent serve it hot with your choice or custard, cream or ice cream. 

I'll pretty much always opt for a starter over desert. The exception to this would of course be Cheese. There are however a couple of ingredients that if they feature in dessert menu can lure me over to the dark side. One is Peanut Butter and the other is Rhubarb. Over the years I've had mixed success with growing my own Rhubarb. I barely got enough for a single crumble until a garden redesign meant that I had to uproot and relocate my plant. All of a sudden it began to flourish and there was no stopping it. One of my most popular blog posts combines it with one of my other loves. Yup it's Rhubarb Gin.

Three Ingredient Cadbury Mini Creme Egg Fudge

With only two ingredients, no tricky temperatures or boiling hot sugar required, this microwave Easter Fudge is quick and easy to make. Once you’ve mastered it you can adapt the toppings to suit the occasion and personal preference. You can make it with white, milk or dark chocolate and use your favourite Easter treats as toppings whether that be mini or creme eggs. 

I've now made several seasonal variants of two ingredient chocolate fudge all of which have proved to be very popular. We had Last Rolo for Valentine's Day and Terry's Chocolate Orange & Zingy Orange Matchmaker and After Eight and Mint Matchmaker for Christmas. I wouldn't want Easter to feel left out so I've come up with both a white and a milk chocolate version. The White Chocolate Easter Fudge recipe was commissioned by Chapelton. This is Aberdeenshire's new town and whilsn't I don't live there I've already benefitted from its facilities, businesses an community. Whilst you're on the Chapelton website getting the fudge recipe be sure to check out the variety of properties available to suit all incomes and needs. The Creme Egg Fudge needs only three ingredients and along with it's recipe below I've shared other sweet easter treats that I've created over the years. I do hope that Lent hasn't been too painful and that the Easter Bunny will be good to you!

Ice Cream Cookiewiches ♥ Ice Cream and Choc Chip Cookie Sandwiches

14th February. Valentines Day. It's the sweetest time of the year for some, but for others it can be the day they love to hate. Whether you're celebrating with a loved one, drowning your sorrows a la Bridget Jones, doing it a day early with your girlfriends for Galentines Day or burying your head in the sand about the whole thing I've got some delicious deserts to share with you. It's your prerogative if you choose to share them with a significant other or keep them all for yourself. Cookies, Ice Cream and Sprinkles. Could there be anything sweeter?! Combine them all for the ultimate Sandwich and you have a heavenly desert. This year I will be spending Valentines Day in Iceland (the country) so it seems only appropriate that I've teamed up with Iceland (the shop) to showcase their Luxury Dessert range and share my recipe for Ice Cream Cookiewiches.

Can I share a secret? Valentine's Day is probably the worst time of the year to eat out as a couple. Prices are hiked up, people are squeezed in, there's an atmosphere of enforced romance, the staff really don't want to be there. The ideal solution could be a special meal at home. However if you go for that option you run the risk of spending more time slaving over a hot stove that gazing into each others eyes across the table. Time to harness the #PowerOfFrozen from Iceland Foods. Their range of frozen produce is tasty, convenient and absolutely perfect for when you want to enjoy quality food whilst spending time with someone special and not be stuck in the kitchen. With decadent desserts in mind I popped along to my local Iceland store and picked up a fantastic haul from their Luxury desert range. All were effortlessly easy to prepare with defrosting times ranging from 10 minutes to 1-1/2 hours. With a few accessories you can pimp and preen their presentation to perfection. 

French Crème Brûlée 

2 individual terracotta pots filled with a Madagascan vanilla custard base with caramel pieces included to create a crunchy glazed topping.

These cook from frozen under the grill in only 4-5 minutes. Deliciously decadent and reusable terracotta pots to boot. Be sure to let them stand for a further 5 minutes so the top crisps up nicely.

Raspberry & Prosecco Semifreddo

A creamy raspberry and Prosecco Italian style dessert made with marscapone cheese, topped with a raspberry compote and Heritage raspberry crumb. 

This only needs 10-15 minutes to defrost. Pure indulgence and simply must be served accompanied by a glass of Prosecco for the full effect.

2 Pot Au Chocolat

Creamy dark chocolate dessert made with real Belgian chocolate served in individual terracotta pots.

2 Exotic Mousse with Coconut

A thin sponge layer topped with passion fruit and mango mousse with mango pieces, coated in mango icing and decorated with desiccated coconut.

2 Chocolate & Hazelnut Marquise

A layered desert on a crunch hazelnut and milk chocolate base with chocolate flavoued sauce, chocolate flavour brownie and dark chocolate mousse. Decorated with dark chocolate velvet dusting.

Why have one desert when you can create your own sharing platter of three? The exotic tropical mouse makes a wonderfully refreshing contrast to the indulgent dark chocolate.

Very Berry Individual Cheesecakes

2 individual baked vanilla cheesecakes, topped with a sweet berry sauce, raspberries and wild blackberries.
These creamy fruity cheesecakes and their Westcountry Salted Fudge counterparts make the perfect end to a special Valentine meal.

If you'd like to go a step further and make your own desert, you can head to the freezers at Iceland and combine ready to bake cookie dough with luxury ice cream to make Ice Cream Cookiewiches. These can be made in advance and you can mix and match the flavours of cookies and ice cream to suit. The 100's and 1000's are optional and could be substituted with chopped nuts, grated chocolate or popping candy. My kids were the taste testers for this creation and they absolutely loved them! Cookiewiches (or Sandookies??!!) are the perfect sweet treat to share with any loved one on any day of the year. We should really celebrate love all year round for everyone special in our lives.

Ice Cream Cookiewiches ♥ Ice Cream and Cookie Sandwiches 

Makes 3 

1 Box Millie's at Home Ready to Bake Triple Choc Cookie Dough

Magnum Tub White Ice Cream

Hundreds & Thousands Sprinkles

Bake the cookies from frozen according to the pack instructions and allow to cool completely.

Remove ice cream from the freezer and stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.

Squeeze the pack and crack the thick Magnum white chocolate shell.

Spread a generous layer of the ice cream on the underside of 3 of the cookies and sandwich together with the remaining 3.

Tip some hundreds and thousands sprinkles into a small shallow bowl and roll around the edges of your cookiewiches.

Place the cookiewiches in a freezer proof container and return to the freezer for at least an hour before serving. 

Let stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving. 

For further Valentine's recipes utilising the #PowerOfFrozen take a look at these delectable deserts from my blogging colleagues

Veggie Desserts - Pistachio Blondies with Raspberry Swirl Hearts

Recipes From A Pantry - Lime, Mango & Pineapple Loaf Cake

Little Sunny Kitchen - Valentine's Day Deserts with #PowerOfFrozen

The Hedgecombers - Wintry Summer Pudding

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Disclosure: This is a commissioned recipe for Iceland Foods. As always, all views expressed are my own. 

Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you. I’m super choosy and promise to bring you only the cream of the crop.

Brandy Snaps Baskets with Mulled Fruit Compote

Someone really needs to develop scratch and sniff on the internet. Smells are so evocative, particularly in relation to food. The aroma of a dish gets to you even before the taste. At Christmas, the spicy scent that for me conjures up the season is undoubtedly Cinnamon. It is present in so many of our sweet Christmas favourites. Mince Pies, Eggnog, Cookies, Mulled Wine and Figgy Pudding. Schwartz one of the world’s largest producers of dried herbs, spices and seasonings, have launched a 'Christmas Is Cinnamon' campaign for the festive season. Because they know that this particular spice evokes lots of lovely memories of Christmases past, they asked me to create and share a sweet, festive recipe that has significance to me. The one that immediately came to mind was Brandy Snaps, from my Mum's Cordon Bleu Cookery Course.

I vividly recall helping my Mum to make Brandy Snaps at Christmas time. The recipe she used was from the Cordon Bleu Cookery Course. This was a 72 part cookery magazine from the 1970's. The Brandy Snaps take pride of place on the cover of the first issue of the magazine (priced at a hefty 75p). They are the suggested desert for your very first Cordon Bleu Dinner Party Menu which comprised of: Potage Madrilene to start, followed by Chicken Veronique with Julienne Potato Cake and rounding off with Oranges in Caramel and the ubiquitous Brandy Snaps. To enable you to 'make the meal a success without wasting a single precious second in the kitchen' a detailed timetable was provided to make it possible for even 'a beginner cook to produce a Cordon Bleu meal'.

When it came to Brandy Snap making at Christmas it was always for a large gathering of friends on Christmas Eve. We used to unearth all the wooden spoons and spurtles in the house to shape them around. Asbestos fingers were definitely required as there is a very fine line between the brandy snaps being too hot to handle and having cooled so much that they break when you try to roll them.

My Brandy Snap Baskets are definitely an evolution of a later decade and are much less fiddly to make. The combination of Ginger and Cinnamon is always a winning one, although I was somewhat surprised to discover that most Brandy Snaps don't actually include any Brandy in the recipe! A wee bit of Googling led me to discover a few possibilities for the name. One being that the cream they are filled with should be flavoured with brandy another that brand-schnap came from them being burnt gingerbread and a third that uneducated palates made the use of brandy redundant thus manufacturing the biscuits without brandy was cheaper! Whatever the true origin of the name, Brandy Snaps most definitely encompass the sentiment of 'Christmas is Cinnamon' for me.

Brandy Snaps Baskets

Makes 8

60g Butter

60g Demerara Sugar

60g Golden Syrup

60g Plain Flour

Pinch of Salt

1/2 Tsp Schwartz Ground Cinnamon

1/2 Tsp Schwartz Ground Ginger

1/2 Tsp Lemon Juice

1/2 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Preheat the oven to 180c

Put the butter, sugar and syrup in a saucepan and and heat gently until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved. This will take about 15 minutes over a low heat. Don’t let the mixture boil as it may crystallise. 

Leave the melted ingredients to cool slightly then sieve in the flour, salt, cinnamon and ginger.

Pour in the lemon juice and vanilla extract and stir well to combine. 

Line two baking sheets with greaseproof paper or a reusable non-stick liner. 

Spoon the mixture into 4 'blobs' on each sheet.

Space them well apart as they will spread. Cook for 8 – 10 mins until set, golden brown and lacy in appearance. It's best to do this in two batches.

Leave for a minute before shaping. The biscuits should still be pliable but set enough not to tear. If they start to cool too much and become brittle, return to the oven for 30 seconds

To make baskets, oil the base of small ramekins or dariole moulds and drape the biscuits over them.

Once set, transfer to a cooling rack.

If not using straightway, store in an airtight container for up to 7 days.

Serve the Brandy Snaps Baskets filled with whipped cream (with or without Brandy) or ice cream. Top with your choice of fresh fruit, berries, fruit, toffee or chocolate sauce or try my seasonal Mulled Fruit Compote.

Mulled Fruit Compote

500g Mixed Frozen Summer Fruits

1/4 tsp Cinnamon

1/4 tsp Ginger

50ml Port

1 Tbsp Cornflour

Gently heat the frozen summer fruits in a saucepan until they are fully defrosted and there's plenty of juice.

Add the Cinnamon, Ginger and Port and stir through 

Slake the cornflour with a splash of water and add it to the pan, mixing well to combine.

Turn up the heat and allow the sauce to thicken.

Serve in the Brandy Snap Baskets along with cream or ice cream and finish with a sprinkling of Cinnamon.

Disclosure : This is a commissioned post for Schwartz. As always, all views expressed are my own.
Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you.

Linking up to The Food Calendar and Inheritance Recipes

Traditional Homemade Toffee Apples

Perfect for Halloween and Bonfire Night these traditional homemade Toffee Apples will be perfect thanks to the Thermapen digital thermometer.

Halloween and Bonfire Night just aren't complete without traditional toffee apples loved by both little and big kids. Rather than buy the highly coloured bright red versions from the supermarket why not try making your own this autumn? When it comes to any kind of hot sugar work the tricky bit is getting your boiling temperature right. Whether you're looking for thread, soft ball, firm ball or soft crack, things can easily turn to burnt sugar if you're not careful. Time for my trusty Thermapen to once again come into it's own. It's an absolute kitchen essential as far as I'm concerned. British made, the Thermapen is probably the worlds fastest reading kitchen thermometer. The true temperature of a foodstuff can be tested in just three seconds. In addition to ensuring that the toffee on your apple will be crunchy it will also take the guesswork out of other areas of your cooking. Steak will be perfect, your fudge, will set, your jam won't run off your toast, your chocolate will be shiny and tempered and your BBQ won't give anyone an upset tummy.

For toffee apples the magic number you're looking for is 150c which is the hard crack stage. The Thermapen takes only 3 seconds to give an accurate reading and it's temperature display automatically rotates through 360 degrees so you can see it at any angle. There's even a back light which is triggered in dim light whilst a motion-sensing sleep mode automatically turns on/off when set down or picked up. No wonder it's one of my most regularly used and invaluable pieces of kitchen kit. I recently gave my Mum one as I couldn't cope cooking without it when visiting her! 

When it comes to colour the traditional toffee or candy apple is bright red from goodness knows what food colouring. I used Jazz apples which are a wonderful mix of red and green and their colour shines through from the light caramel colour of the 'toffee'. The variety is a cross between the UK's two biggest sellers – the Royal Gala and the Braeburn. I also experimented in adding colour by way of beetroot powder but had mixed success, as whilst it looked brilliant red at the start of cooking it turned to a rather dark brown as the mixture came up to temperature. So my recommendation would be to avoid any artificial colour in your toffee and go for a beautiful coloured fruit instead. 

Traditional Homemade Toffee Apples 

As a child I always thought that a toffee apple was the perfect sweet, as once you'd eaten the toffee the apple would clean your teeth! 

Ingredients 

6 Apples (I used Jazz Apples) 

400g Caster Sugar 

1 Tsp Vinegar 

50g Salted Butter 

100ml Water 

4 Tbsp Golden Syrup 

You will also need 

6 lolly sticks 

Thermapen digital food thermometer 

Wash and dry the apples. Remove any stalks and use a skewer to make a hole from the stalk end, then securely push in a lolly stick. 

Set the apples aside on a baking tray topped with greaseproof paper or a reusable non-stick liner. 

Place the sugar, vinegar, butter, water, and syrup in a heavy based pan and gently dissolve over a low heat. 

Turn up the heat and boil WITHOUT STIRRING (otherwise the sugar may crystallise) until the mixture reaches a reading of 150°C on a Thermapen thermometer. 

TIP - whilst boiling have a small bowl of cold water and a pastry brush to had and use the wet brush to wash down any stray sugar from the sides of the pan. 

Remove the pan from the heat and let the bubbles die down a little. 

Tilt the pan and carefully dip the apples one at a time into the toffee, twirling them to ensure they are fully covered. 

Let any excess toffee drop off before placing them back the lined baking tray. 

Once set store in a cool place - not the fridge - and eat within 48 hours (otherwise the toffee will start to soften and liquify. 

Do take a peek at the three recipes I've previously developed in conjunction with Thermapen which highlight its versatility: 

• Maple Double Mustard BBQ Chicken Thighs
• 7 Hour Spiced Pulled Leg of Lamb
• Spiced Apple and Rosehip Jelly

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Disclosure : This is a commissioned recipe for Electronic Temperature Instruments Ltd As always, all views expressed are my own.

Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you.

Maple Spiced Apple Compote

As we head towards September it's the season of mists and mellow fruitfulness. The leaves are turning, the nights are drawing in and the hedgerows are laden with berries. I absolutely adore Autumn fruits and I'm always excited to see the apples ripening on my miniature tree in the garden. I'm afraid I've no idea what variety they are but they are eaters rather than cookers and taste just great! Home grown produce always tastes better. I've used the first of my pickings to create a fantastic Maple Spiced Apple Compote which is the perfect topper for a the selection of breakfast bakery goods sent to me by Genius, one of the UK’s best-known suppliers of gluten free products.

Our morning goods hamper contained four different Genius products

• Sliced Spicy Fruit Loaf - Available in Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Waitrose, RRP: £2.50 
• Blueberry Muffins - Available in Tesco, RRP: £2.00 
• Crumpets - Available in Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose, RRP: £2.00 
• Pancakes - Available in Sainsbury’s, Asda and Waitrose, RRP: £2.00 

As a family we are fortunate not to have any food allergies or intolerances however I'm all too aware of the issues faced by those who have to cope with coeliac disease and how limited their choices have been in terms of bakery products. Genius was founded by professionally trained chef, Lucinda Bruce-Gardyne, who developed the range after failing to find good quality gluten-free and wheat-free bread suitable for her gluten intolerant son. Genius Gluten Free is now the number one gluten-free bakery brand in Britain. 

I blind taste tested the Genius range on my family and all of the goodies were happily eaten. However they did report that the texture was a bit different to normal but not unpleasant. Warming or toasting the products definitely helped but to be honest that's probably the same with pretty much all breakfast bakes. The sliced fruit loaf had quite an open and holey texture and the further into the loaf I went the more holes there were. I found it rather dry to eat fresh but it made good toast and french bread and had a lovely flavour of combination of sultanas, currants, raisins and spices. We're really not big crumpet eaters so probably not best suited to make judgement on them however Foodie Girl is a huge pancake fan and ate two toasted with butter and jam without any complaints. The list of ingredients for the products is long as finding a way to create a gluten alternative clearly requires some complex chemistry. As someone who has no issues eating gluten that would put me off as I really had no idea what many of the unpronounceable ingredients are. However I do appreciate that for coeliacs they literally are a lifesaver.  

My apple compote was so good when served on top of the toasted muffins, pancakes and the fruit bread french toast. It would also work really well at breakfast time with porridge, as an apple sauce alternative with roast pork or as a desert topping on rice pudding or ice cream. Do make sure you use pure maple syrup and not maple flavoured syrup for this recipe. The difference is like night and day. We drizzled over extra maple syrup and added toasted chopped hazelnuts when it came to our gluten free pancake stack. Now that's Genius! 

Maple Spiced Apple Compote 

350g Apples (peeled and cored weight)

100ml pure Maple Syrup

1 Cinnamon stick

1/2 tsp Ground Ginger

1/2 tsp Maldon Salt

1 Star Anise

2 Cloves

Thinly slice the peeled and cored apples and place them in a saucepan with the maple syrup and spices.

Bring to the boil then turn down to a gentle simmer and cook for 10 minutes.

For the last 2 minutes of cooking time turn the heat back up to full to reduce the juices to a syrupy consistency.

Can be served hot, at room temperature or cold.

Find out what other bloggers thought of the Genius products in their posts

Veggie Deserts - Vegan Tuna Mayo Sandwich

Fuss Free Flavours - Review - Genius Gluten Free

Baking Queen - Blueberry Cream Cheese Bagels

Taming Twins - Genius Gluten Free Bread & Bagels put to the test

Eats Amazing - Healthy Rainbow Bagels

Emily's Recipes & Reviews - Enjoy a Gluten Free Breakfast with Genius

Disclosure : This is a commissioned post for Genius. As always, all views expressed are my own. 

Thank you for supporting the brands who make it possible for me to continue to share my Edible Scottish Adventures with you.

Pimm's O'Clock Ice Lollies

At long last summer is here! Please don't let it have only been for one solitary day and by the time I publish this post it has reverted to winter again. The mercury has been rising across the UK with temperatures in the 30's. Definitely 'Taps Aff' weather as we say here in Scotland. What better to cool you down in the scorchio heat than an ice lolly? Even better if it's a boozy one! The 'recipe' I'm posting today seems like a wee bit of a fraud. I'm sure there are literally hundreds of version of it already on the internet but when I shared it on my Facebook Page everyone seemed to go crazy for it. Summer = Pimm's. Lets go one step further with Pimm's o'clock Ice Lollies! (or Pimm's Popsicles if you are across the pond)

I actually made these a couple of weeks ago as a icy treat for Wimbledon. Alas the sun didn't really come out to play but I did manage to eat one whilst watching Andy Murray lift the trophy at SW19. I wasn't too sure how the boozy element would work and if I'd end up with a slush rather than a lolly but by pure luck rather than good judgement I seem to have hit on a winning ratio. Make sure you fill your lolly molds up with plenty of cucumber, strawberries and mint as if you only use a few pieces they will all float to the top (which then becomes the bottom!) The more fruit and veg you use the more legitimately you can say that these icy lollies count as one of your 5 a day. I used the mini cucumbers which are just so cute (I get mine in Lidl) but you could use regular slices of cucumber and quarter them. Say cheers and stay cool!

Pimm's O'Clock Ice Lollies

makes 8 large lollies

400ml Lemonade

100ml Pimm's

Punnet Strawberries, chopped into quarters

2 Mini Cucumbers, sliced

Fresh Mint Leaves

• Mix together the Pimm's and Lemonade in a Jug, best to have a wee taste just to check that its OK ;-)
• Fill up your lolly molds with the chopped strawberries, cucumber slices and mint leaves.
• Pour over the Pimm's mixture and insert wooden lolly sticks/lids.
• Leave to freeze overnight. 
• Pray for sunshine.
• Lick and Enjoy!

For more boozy icy treats check out The Hedgecombers Frozen Dark Rum Mojito Cocktail Lolly. Grown up Shandy Lollies from Kavey Eats and a Beer Slushy from Pete Drinks. 

This could get dangerous! 

Bloody Mary Sorbet - Tomato Gelato

I adore Gazpacho. It's the one dish I always look forward to on holiday in Spain. Cold tomato soup may not be everyone's cup of tea but when it's made well, with quality ingredients, it's wonderfully flavourful and refreshing dish. In a similar vein my tipple on a plane is always a Bloody Mary. I'm not quite sure why, but ordering one always mean that I'm off on holiday. As part of my ambassadorship with premium Italian tomato brand Cirio the blogger brief talks about 'new and different ways to use Cirio'. I reckon the recipe that I've created for them today does just exactly that. Tomato Gelato aka Bloody Mary Sorbet. 

If you are turning your nose up in disgust don't diss it until you've tried it. The sweet/savoury/icy combination really does work. And the generous shot of vodka in there is an added bonus. If you're a Gin fan like myself feel free to substitute your spirit. Likewise a Virgin Mary Sorbet will taste almost as good. It can be served as an amuse bouche, starter, palate cleanser, desert or cheeseboard accompaniment. I reckon it would be great as part of a prawn cocktail and downright awesome to put a scoopful in the middle of a bowl of Gazpacho. If you want the ultimate grown up 'Slush Puppie' just let it defrost a bit and serve with a long spoon and wide straw. The possibilities are endless! I used a bottle of Cirio La Napoletana Flavoured Passata which contains 100% Italian tomatoes crushed and enriched with a blend of onion, celery and paprika. How spicy or mild you make your Bloody Mary Sorbet is entirely down to personal taste so feel free to revise the quantities of Tabasco up and down according to your own eat tolerance.

Bloody Mary Sorbet

150g Caster Sugar

150ml Water

1 shallot, peeled

1/2 cucumber

1 red pepper, deseeded

540g Bottle Cirio La Napoletana Flavoured Passata

75ml Vodka

Juice of 1 Lemon

2 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

1/2 Tsp Tobasco Sauce

Freshly ground Black Pepper

Put the sugar and water in a small pan, turn up the heat and boil for 5 minutes until syrupy. Leave to cool completely.

Meanwhile roughly chop the cucumber, pepper and shallot and whiz them to a pulp in a food processor.

Add the Cirio La Napoletana Flavoured Passata, vodka, lemon juice and cooled sugar syrup and blend until combined.

Taste and season with the Worcestershire Sauce, Tabasco and Black Pepper.

Push the mixture through a sieve into a large jug.

Churn the sorbet in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers instructions.

(If you don't have an an ice-cream maker you can pour it into a freezer friendly container. Freeze for 6-8 hrs. Soften for about 30 mins, return to the food processor and whizz until just smooth. Then refreeze for at least 2 more hours until firm.)

Take the sorbet out of the freezer and allow it to soften in the fridge for 10 mins before serving in salt rimmed glasses. 

Garnish with celery, lemon, freshly ground black pepper and paprika.

Now that you've dragged the ice cream maker out of the back of the cupboard and dusted it off, why not make it earn it's keep and churn up some more refreshing sorbets? Recipes below are from some of my food blogging colleagues.

• Pineapple & Dark Rum Sorbet
• Kiwi Coconut Sorbet
• Blackberry, Apple and Thyme Sorbet
• Lemon Balm Sorbet
• Mango & Chocolate Sorbet 
• Jungle Juice Sorbet

Disclosure : This is a commissioned recipe for Cirio. All opinions expressed are my own.

Peanut Butter Ice Lollies

Growing up there were really only two options when it came to individual frozen treats. Ice Poles or Choc Ices. Now there are a myriad of choices to suit each and every taste. I very much doubt that kids of today would be impressed by a Choc Ice but I remember being allowed to have one from the depths of the chest freezer on a hot summer's day as being a real treat. Perhaps because there is so much choice available these days I've never really got round to being very adventurous with making my own ice lollies and up until now I've really only made very basic ones using squash and the lolly moulds with the built in plastic sticks.

Spotting some of my fellow food bloggers wonderful ice pop creations on social media spurred me on to have a try at making some of my own. On a trip to TK Maxx I'd picked up a silicone mould for making traditional ice lollies with proper wooden lolly sticks and felt it deserved something better than diluting juice. I'm a sucker for all things Peanut Butter and have been loving the limited edition Muller Light Peanut & Caramel Yoghurts so decided to use one as the base for my creation. The resulting lollies taste great 'naked' but I decided to take inspiration from Magnum and Feast and decorate with dark chocolate and chopped nuts. 

PEANUT BUTTER ICE LOLLIES

Makes 4 generous lollies, depending on the size of your moulds

1 x 165g pot Peanut Yoghurt (I used Muller Light Peanut & Caramel)

1 x 190g pot Custard

4 Tablespoons Smooth Peanut Butter

100g Dark Chocolate

50g Salted Peanuts, finely chopped

Whisk together the yogurt, custard and peanut butter until smooth and thoroughly combined. 

Pour into ice lolly moulds, insert sticks and freeze overnight.

Melt the dark chocolate and pour into a disposable piping bag.
Finely chop the salted peanuts.

Dip the moulds in hot water for a few seconds to help release the lollies.

Place the lollies on greasproof paper/reusable non stick liner.

Snip the very tip off the piping bag of melted chocolate, drizzle over the end of the lolly, then sprinkle over the chopped nuts. You'll need to work quickly!

Eat immediately or return to the freezer and wait for a sunny day.

I've got a feeling that I may now have been bitten by the homemade ice lolly bug. All of a sudden I've got so many ideas of flavour combinations that I want to try, many with a boozy kick! If you can't wait until I get round to blogging them do check out those below from some of my fellow foodies

• Mango Lassi Ice Lollies
• Eton Mess Ice Lollies
• Cucumber, Elderflower & Mint Ice Pops
• Hidden Vegetable Minion Ice Lollies
• Strawberry, Banana & Custard Ice Lollies 
• Chocolate Coconut Mango Mousse Ice Lollies
• Mini Chocolate Ice Pops
• Honey Filled Breakfast Popsicles