Quick & easy: Mary Berry’s rum & raisin ice cream

Sweet, naughty and delicious, this has a gorgeously smooth and silky texture. With no churning required, it is so straightforward to make too. Condensed milk is the magic ingredient here – the thick, rich combination of sugar and milk helps to prevent any ice crystals from forming and makes the ice cream easy to scoop straight from the freezer. Soaking the raisins overnight is worth doing, as this plumps them up so they are juicy. Without soaking, they would be hard to eat.

Mary Berry’s Rum and Raisin Ice Cream

Makes 1 litre

Prep time: 15 minutes, plus soaking
Freeze time: 12 hours or overnight

Ingredients
150g raisins
50ml dark rum
300ml pouring double cream
1 × 397g tin of full-fat condensed milk

Method
You will need a 1 litre freezer-proof container or eight ramekins (see note).

Place the raisins in a saucepan. Add the rum and gently heat it until just boiling. Spoon into a bowl, then cover and leave to soak overnight until all the raisins are plump and the rum has been absorbed (see recipe introduction).

Pour the cream into a large bowl and whisk into soft peaks using an electric hand whisk. Carefully fold in the condensed milk, then the raisins and any excess rum and mix well.

Spoon into the freezer-proof container or ramekins and freeze for a minimum of 12 hours or overnight.

Serve scoops of ice cream with fresh fruit.

Prepare ahead
Make the ice cream at least 12 hours ahead.

Cook’s note
Spooned into ramekins, the ice cream will freeze more quickly – in just a few hours. Don’t overfill them, as the mixture will expand as it freezes – ramekins with a capacity of 150ml would be ideal.

Freeze
Freezes for up to 2 months.

Extracted from Mary Berry’s Quick Cooking by Mary Berry (BBC Books, approx €25). Photography by Georgia Glynn Smith.