Cucumber and Mint Water
- 1 cucumber
- 1 sprig fresh mint
- 1.8 litres water (3 pints)
- Lots of ice
Method:
Peel the cucumber lengthways with a vegetable peeler until you get to the seeds.
Put the skin and flesh into a jug and add the mint, water and ice. Give it a good stir.
Leave in the fridge to infuse for 1 hour. This will keep in the fridge for two days.
Frozen Berry Smoothie
- 7oz/200g frozen mixed berries
- A few ice cubes
- 1 banana
- 100ml Greek-style yoghurt
- 150ml milk - or water depending on what consistency you like
- 1-2 tbsp honey
- Fresh mint leaves to decorate
Method:
Take some frozen berries and a few ice cubes and add them to a medium-sized jug
Roughly chop the banana and add it to the berries along with the yoghurt and honey then whizz with a hand-held blender or smoothie maker
Add the milk and whizz again until you reach the desired consistency. Taste the mixture – if you prefer it slightly sweeter, then add more honey.
Pour the liquid into glasses, bottles or jam jars decorate with a slice of grapefruit and mint if you like and serve immediately
Cheat’s Banana Ice Cream Sandwich
- 4 bananas peeled and frozen and broken into chunks
- 150ml plain greek yoghurt
- 80ml honey
- 30 ml milk
- 1/2 packet rich tea biscuits
Method:
Place the frozen bananas, half the yoghurt, the milk and the honey in a food processor and blend
When smooth, half the yoghurt blend but don’t let it defrost. Place in the freezer to cool for 10 minutes and serve.
Sandwich scoops of ice cream between two rich tea biscuits for a quick and tasty ice cream sandwich
Orange Granita
- 4 large oranges for hollowing out
For the Granita:
- 1 pint freshly squeezed orange juice (approximately 6 large oranges squeezed)
For the sugar syrup:
- 3oz/85g caster sugar
- 6 tbsp water
- Juice of a small lemon If you prefer a sorbet – you will need an ice cream machine for this
- 200g caster sugar
- 150ml water
- 600ml freshly squeezed orange juice, strained to remove the pips and pithe (about 3 large oranges)
- Juice ½ lemon, or to taste
Method
To prepare the orange shells, carefully cut the bottom off the orange so you have a level base for it to stand up
Take about a quarter off the top and squeeze that with an old-fashioned lemon squeezer and use a knife and an ice cream scoop to remove the juice and flesh from the inside of the orange and hollow it out
Squeeze the pulp through a sieve and reserve the juice. Place the orange shell into the freezer to firm up until needed.
For the granita, place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and slowly bring to the boil - you want the sugar to be completely dissolved
Squeeze the remaining oranges until you have about 1 pint of juice. Add the lemon juice to the orange and then combine with the sugar syrup.
Pour the liquid into an ice cream tub or shallow baking tray. You want the liquid to be no more than 1 inch deep. Place into the freezer for an hour, remove and take a fork and run this through the mix to flake it.
Return to the freezer and repeat the forking process another three or four times over at least six hours. For a dinner party it’s worth preparing this in the morning. Scoop the granita into the empty orange shells and place back into the fridge for further ten minutes before serving.
If you have an ice cream machine and would prefer a sorbet then place the sugar and water in a small saucepan and simmer for 5-10 minutes until syrupy. Remove from the heat and cool. Stir the orange juice into the syrup. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions, then scoop into the shells of the orange and freeze until ready to serve.
