• 1 tablespoon seedless raisins
• 1 tablespoon rum
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped glacé cherries
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped angelica
• 1 170-ml/6-fl oz carton (double) cream
• 40 g/1½ oz sifted icing sugar
• few drops vanilla essence
• 2 egg whites

Soak the raisins in the rum overnight and have the glacé cherries and angelica ready chopped. The red, green and brown give the ice cream a delightful contrast in colours. Lightly whip the double cream until just beginning to thicken, then whisk in the icing sugar and a few drops of vanilla essence. Fold in the egg whites, stiffly beaten, the rum-soaked raisins and any rum they didn’t soak up and the chopped glacé fruits.

Pour the mixture into a plastic freezer container, cover and freeze. As the mixture becomes icy round the sides during the first stages of freezing, stir the sides into the centre with a fork. This is necessary to disperse evenly the glacé fruits, which tend to sink to the bottom of the soft, newly made mixture. After one stir the mixture can be left for several hours or until frozen firm.

Serve straight from the freezer using a spoon or scoop dipped in cold water. The ice cream needs no other embellishment – it tastes marvellous just on its own.