Strawberry Ice Cream

Hull and cut the strawberries into quarters, lay on a plate and sprinkle over the rosewater. Stir to mix in the rosewater.

Prepare the custard (This can be done the night before and the custard can be stored in the fridge after cooling thoroughly.)

Place vanilla sugar, egg yolks and cornflour into a deep bowl. Beat until well mixed.

Slowly heat up the cream and milk in a thick based saucepan. As it rises to the boil, carefully pour into the egg and sugar mixture. Beat the mixture hard.

In a clean saucepan, return the mixture to the heat and gently heat through to thicken the custard. Stir constantly.

Cool the custard down. This step should take place OUTSIDE the fridge until it is cool enough to be placed into the fridge.

Liquidize the strawberries in a blender.

Pour cooled custard and strawberries into the ice cream maker bowl. Switch on the paddle and chiller unit and allow to mix. Alternatively, pour the two mixtures into a plastic container with a lid.Stir well to mix the two liquids. Seal and place in the freezer. This will need to be mixed and broken up with a large fork in order to prevent large ice crystals forming at least twice during freezing.

If using an ice cream maker, it is best to remove the mixture when it is soft ("semifreddo"), otherwise the paddle will be very difficult to remove from the ice cream when fully frozen. Transfer to a plastic storage container, cover and place in the freezer until required

The ice cream is served best either at the "semifreddo stage" in a bowl with extra strawberries when it has a creamy consistency, or, as children love when it is fully frozen in cornets and wafers.