Nuts make wonderful milks, and therefore they also make great granitas, sorbets and lollies. There is no trick or trouble to getting them right, but there is a magic about nut ices that is as jaw-dropping as a magician’s act – delicious and sophisticated, without adulterating the childlike joy that underpins every sort of ice-cream. Then, I like to celebrate rhubarb as a sorbet, which is great on its own, or with cold custard, or to accompany stodgier puddings.
Walnut and pear lollies (pictured top)
This can be adapted for any nuts – it works particularly well with pecans (lightly roasted before making the milk, and consider using maple syrup in place of the sugar), hazelnuts (roasted before making the milk), almonds (roasted or raw, skin on or skin off) or pistachios (skinless, if you can get them, roasted or raw). You can get inventive and seasonal with the fruit, too, but it is really only necessary to add a sweet dimension to walnuts – other nuts can fly solo.
Prep 5 min
Cook 1 hr 10 min
Freeze 6 hr+
Makes about 6 x 100ml lollies
220g walnut halves or pieces
100g white sugar
1 ripe pear
First make a nut milk: put 140g of the walnuts in a blender with 350ml cold water, then blend , until they’re a very fine texture, which will take several minutes.
Strain the nut water through a very fine sieve, pressing with the back of a spoon to extract the last bits of goodness. Measure out 450ml of the nut milk (if you don’t have quite enough, top up with more water), then add the sugar and stir until it dissolves.
Roast the remaining 80g walnuts very gently in a 160C (140C fan)/325F/gas 3 oven for 45 minutes to an hour, until light golden brown, then remove and leave to cool.
To make the lollies, divide the roast walnuts evenly between six lolly moulds. Peel, core and dice the pear, then divide this between the lolly moulds, too. Top with the sweet walnut milk to come 5mm below the rim, then put on the lid and lolly sticks, and freeze for about six hours, until solid.
Rhubarb sorbet
Rhubarb is such a camp monstrosity of a petiole. I always think a bunch of the glorious, pink ribbed stems look like candles destined for a drag queen’s dressing table, or Brighton rock being pulled to perfection.
Prep 5 min
Cook 10 min, plus churning
Freeze 30 min
Makes About 1 litre
650g rhubarb
200g caster sugar
50g light runny honey, or glucose syrup
Chop the rhubarb into 1-2cm pieces, then put in a saucepan with all the other ingredients and 100ml cold water. Bring to a simmer, then cook for five minutes, until the rhubarb is tender with just a little crunch (it will keep cooking as it cools). Leave to cool to room temperature, then blend finely.
Churn the mixture in an ice-cream machine according to the maker’s instructions until fully firm, then put into a suitable container, seal and put in the freezer for half an hour or so, to firm up. If it has been stored in the freezer for longer and is too firm, put it in the fridge to soften until scoopable.