Also known as mint chip-mint choc chip-mint. It’s a bit minty.
Experiments with Earl Grey flavoured ice cream did not work out, so instead I’m sharing my all time favourite ice cream.
If you like mint/chocolate combos this is the ice-cream for you. Creamy, mint flavoured ice cream, studded with chunks of mint fondant and minty dark chocolate chips. Perfect for the hot weather we’ve been having…okay, hot compared to winter. We are having one of the wettest summers on record; meanwhile, the rest of Europe is literally on fire…
For the mint chips I used to use Clarins mint creams (made by Bassets), now sadly discontinued. Any firm fondant or mint cream could be used instead eg. Bendick’s Bittermints or Lutti mint creams (if you can get them, they’re the closet to Clarins). For the chocolate I chopped up a bar of Lindt Mint Intense, though you could substitute any other brand of dark, mint chocolate.
After trying online, and by asking my local wholesale sweet seller, to see if I could get hold of any actual mint fondant creams (they have to be firm not runny), I was about to give up. Then, while searching for the millionth time, Kendal mint cake came up in my feed. I’m very pleased with how it turned out.
Kendal mint cake / Mint chip mint choc chip mint Ice cream
- 300ml milk
- 300ml double cream
- 4 egg yolks
- 100g caster sugar
- 1 tsp cornflour
- 100g chopped mint creams
- 100g chopped mint chocolate
- 2 tsp peppermint essence
Beat together the egg yolks, sugar and cornflour. Heat the milk to boiling point.
Pour the hot milk over the egg yolks, whisking continuously. Pour it all back in the saucepan and stir briskly over a medium heat untill the mixture has thickened to the consistency of cream. Remove from the heat.
Pour into a jug. Add the double cream and peppermint essence. Put in the fridge to chill.
Chop the mints and chocolate into smallish pieces (see photo) Chill the pieces in the freezer.
Following the instructions for your machine, make the ice cream. Add the chocolate and mint pieces right at the end. Scrape into a tub and freeze until firm.
Kendal mint cake’s glucose hit is popular with hikers and mountain climbers. In 1953 it was taken to the top of Mount Everest by Sir Edmund Hilary.