Lakeland Ice-Cream Maker

Lakeland is a household name, a home shopping company which has been operating for half a century or so. You, often, hear about it, in passing. If somebody has a new "never-seen- before" thing-a-magic, when you enquire about the provenance, the reply will often be "oh, found it on the Lakeland catalogue" which indeed is an Ali-Baba cavern, full of treasures and practical answers to daily dilemmas.

After last year's fiasco with my mum antic ice-cream maker which  had to be  left plugged in while churning in the freezer and a recent trip to the three local supermarkets to find out that they had not bettered their sorbet offers. If I did not want to put back on the two stones I had lost over the winter, I had to find a solution.

It was time for a new kitchen-gadget. After a few email exchanges Lakeland offered me to test their home brand ice-cream maker if I reported to you so it is how last week I open the door to a delightful pink and cream box containing a clean-lined machine in the same gorgeous color-scheme.

 "Do you need one of these" the answer is a loud : yes

  Why? the final product's texture is perfectly smooth, the taste is nothing like a commercial brand, it tastes of fruits and cream, my first attempt was just gorgeous.

Step by Step

Puree the strawberries with the lemon juice and milk, using a hand blender.

 Beat together the egg yolk and sugar.

Whip the cream.

Set the timer on your ice cream maker for 25 minutes. Pour the mixture into the bowl with the paddle running and leave to freezechurn.

If you prefer a firmer consistency, place the bowl of ice cream in your freezer for a further 30 minutes or so.

Enjoy

Verdict

It took me over 20 minutes which is what the notice indicates but I am hoping to reduce the preparation time. Though he has already told me to ease off on the planned mountain of ice-cream making. Got lots of flavours I want to try, you see, so I have a cunning plan, every time I am going to be invited this summer forget about jam or flowers, you'll get ice-cream just because I thoroughly enjoyed the process.

Ease of use: It is dead-easy though on my first attempt, it took me a little while to fiddle with the lid the paddles were not turning as it was not locked properly.

Price: of ice-cream I reckon it costs me £1.70 for 500ml which is twice a home-brand supermarket and one fifth of a posh brand.

Price of maker : at £39.99 Lakeland's is middle of the range.

Look: It is very compact and fresh looking.

Quality now this is the cherry on the cake, perfect - bring on the summer- I am ready.

Ingredients for the
STRAWBERRY ICE CREAM
Makes 500ml
Ingredients
220g fresh strawberries
3⁄4 tablespoon lemon juice
220ml full-cream milk
1 egg yolk
90g caster sugar
100ml whipping cream