I remember, when I was a kid, my mum used to make ice cream. I can’t say if she used any ready made mix, but I remember she used lots of milk and a hand mixer. Sometimes she would let me do the work after she prepared all the ingredients. It tasted very milky (obviously). Sometimes she would do it chocolate or fruit flavoured, and it all tasted very good.

After cherrisching that memory long enough, I thought I could also try my skills at doing ice cream. Especially since sometimes after work, when the weather is nice, we treat ourselves to one. The fact that we have a small bakery and an ice parlour just short distance away helps to support that tradition. We then take the cones and finish it on our cozy balcony. Well, as good as it sounds, the ice cream place offers only a limited choice. Still a very good deal. But well, sometimes it’s just nice to try something else.

I found few recipes scattered around my cookbooks, but most of them called for an ice cream machine. Well, I don’t have one, but neither did my mum. But that didn’t stop me from trying. And in the end, after few unsuccessful attempts, I got what I wanted. And I wanted very good ice cream without using the ice cream machine. It’s not perfect, but close enough.

Preparation: 1 hour plus freezing

80g rasins

3 Tbsp rum

600g whipped cream

1 vanilla pod

4 egg yolk (big)

70g sugar

Put the raisins in to a bowl, pour the rum over and stir. Set aside for ca.2 hours, stirring occasionally, until the raisins absorb the liquid.

In the meantime pour the cream to a pot. Cut the vanilla pod lengthwise and using a knife scrape the seeds. Add the cut vanilla pod and seeds to the cream and heat it up on a low heat. As soon as the cream starts to boil, turn off the heat. Place the pot aside and let everything brew for 30 min.

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar until creamy. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream, and slowly pour the liquid to the eggs. Rinse the pot, and pour the liquid back to it. Place it over a low heat and, constantly stirring, allow to thicken. Do not boil it, or it starts to clot.

Turn off the heat, and place the pot in a bigger container or pot, filled with cold water. Let it cool for 1 hour, stirring occasionally, so that no skin forms on the surface.

After that time, pour the liquid into a freeze-suited container. Add the raisins. Put in the freezer, without a lid, for ca 2 hours. After that time, take it out and move the content to a bowl. Using a fork or blender stir vigorously, then move it back to the container. This time, close it (or use a wrapping paper to cover it). Let it in the freezer for another 3 hours, until the content is solid. Take the ice cream out ca 5 min before scooping it.