THE IDEAL MUSLIMAH

Ingredients

• 2 tsp cornflour
• 600ml (1 pint) full fat milk
• 1 vanilla pod, split lengthwise
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 whole egg
• 50g (2oz) fruit sugar (Fruisana)

Instructions

1. Blend the cornflour with 2 tbsp of the milk. Set to one side. Put the vanilla pod into a saucepan with the remaining milk. Heat until almost boiling, then remove from the heat. Cool and infuse for 10 minutes.

2. Whisk the egg yolks, whole egg and fruit sugar together in a bowl.

3. Remove the vanilla pod from the warm milk and use a sharp knife to scrape out its seeds, adding these to the milk. Whisk the milk into the egg mixture with the blended cornflour. Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat gently, stirring constantly with a whisk until the mixture thickens. Cool the mixture, stirring often to prevent a skin from forming, then chill it in the refrigerator until icy cold.

4. If using an ice cream maker, pour the chilled liquid into the freezing bowl and churn the mixture, following the manufacturer's instructions. Spoon into a freezer container and freeze until solid.

5. If freezing without an ice cream maker, tip the mixture into a suitable freezer container. Freeze for about 1 hour, then remove from the freezer and whisk well to break up the ice crystals. Repeat twice more as the mixture freezes, then freeze until solid.

Makes 8 servings