Christmas Ice Cream

A fellow HBHW reader shared this recipe many years ago. She’s from Australia. I’ve made it almost every year since and it’s always been a big hit. Try adding some nuts in addition to the dried fruit for a nice bit of crunch.

• 1 cup mixed dried fruit
• 2 cups Port or Sherry
• 4 pints Vanilla Ice cream

Soak dried fruit in Port or Sherry overnight in the fridge. If you will be serving to children, bring the Port or Sherry to the boil for 5 minutes, to cook off the alcohol but retain the flavor. If you would like to omit the alcohol all together, you can soak the fruit in water with a snapped cinnamon stick.

Take the ice cream out of the freezer and allow to soften, not to a liquid state but so that you can stir it easier.

Drain the fruit – reserve the Port/Sherry for a recipe such as a sauce or glaze (it should keep in the fridge for a long while).

Stir the fruit through the ice cream, making sure it’s evenly distributed.

Transfer to a container and put back in the freezer.

Take out of the freezer half an hour before serving, to make scooping easier.

My mother makes this and it very good. For little effort, you get a very nice Christmas dessert. As we have Christmas in summer in Australia, she serves it with fresh berries, but you could serve it as is, with ginger snaps or hot pudding.