Boozey Ice Cream

Here's the ice cream I told you about earlier. This is really SO good! The raisins were soaked in sherry and then it was served with a good drizzle of some more booze to kick it up that extra notch. Totally out of this world and so much more grown up than your average ice cream recipes.

Helado de Malaga
*600 ml double cream
*300 ml milk
*1 small cinnamon stick
*1 vanilla pod
*7 egg yolks
*85 g caster sugar
*100 g raisins covered with 100 ml Pedro Ximenez sherry or Pedro Ximenez Malaga wine

Place the cream, milk and cinnamon stick in a large saucepan. Split the vanilla pod in half lengthways and scrape the tiny seeds into the pan. Heat until just below boiling point, then remove from the stove. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together for 5- 10 minutes until pale and thick. Loosen the egg with a little of the cream/ milk mixture, then pour the egg back into the saucepan, scraping the bowl out with a spatula. Whisk well to mix everything properly and return to a low heat, stirring constantly. Heat gently to cook out the egg but be careful not to curdle it. When the mixture thickens and just before it bubbles, remove from the heat, pour into a bowl and place over iced water to cool.

Churn in an ice cream machine (in batches if necessary), adding the raisins and sherry towards the end of the churning. For those without an ice cream machine, try freezing the ice cream by hand, but remember to stir every half hour to prevent crystallization. Stirring well will also help distribute the raisins evenly as they tend to sink to the bottom before the custard hardens enough to suspend them. This process will take about two hours, depending on the temperature of your freezer.

Serve with a chilled glass of Pedro Ximenez on the side or poured over the ice cream.