This year we have persuaded Momma to let us share some of the load of Christmas dinner... so my big sister is on starters, and I'm on dessert duty. I'm not entirely sure what my brother is bringing... I'm sure he'll say he's the entertainment, but I'm hoping for drinks (if you're reading this, I'm quite partial to Whisky Sours...)!
Knowing the incredible volume of food Momma always serves up (I get my lack of quantity control from her) I've decided to stay away from heavier desserts like Christmas pudding... more often than not, in our family at least, people are so full the idea of tucking into a heavy pudding really doesn't appeal! So instead I've been experimenting with new takes on Christmas favourites; taking the familiar flavours and presenting them in a slightly different way.
I love love love mince pies; the spices, the dried fruits, the buttery pastry... yum. It seemed like the perfect inspiration for my new take on a Christmas dessert... and it seemed ideal to try it out as a new ice cream flavour for Ice Cream Sunday! I used mincemeat as a starting point, but added some extra spices to capture that special Christmas flavour, crushed shortbread to represent the beautiful buttery pastry... and Cointreau for, well, Christmas sparkle! The Cointreau also helps keep the ice cream unbelievably creamy, as it drops the freezing temperature... so it won't ever reach that rock hard stage we've all bent a spoon on at some time in our lives!
Not going to lie... I'm pretty proud of this one! I'm kind of hoping that everyone will eat their fill during the starter and the main course so I can have it all to myself. Or maybe I'll just make them a separate dessert... I better get creating!
Ingredients
300ml double cream
175g condensed milk
2 tblspns Cointreau... Brandy would work well too!
3 tblspns mincemeat
4 shortbread biscuits, crushed
1/2 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
1/2 tspn ground ginger
1/2 tspn ground cinnamon
Directions
1) In a large bowl, whisk together the double cream, condensed milk and Cointreau until stiff peaks form.
2) Add in the mincemeat, crushed shortbread and the spices and fold until thoroughly combined.
3) Freeze for at least 4 hours, then serve with a light dusting of ground cinnamon.
I've got a pretty special sauce to go with this one, but I'll save that for next week!
My boyfriend's family moved here from England and his dad has been harassing me to make him minced pie. I wonder if minced pie ice cream will do the trick :-) Thanks for sharing!
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