Salted caramelised almond ice cream

To fill a 1L ice cream tub

• 400ml milk (custard)
• 1 vanilla pod (custard)
• 100g caster sugar (custard)
• 7 egg yolks (custard)
• 300ml double cream
• 100g whole almonds
• 75g granulated sugar
• half a tsp salt

Start by making the custard. Pour the milk into a saucepan, split the vanilla pod and place it in the milk. Bring the mixture to the boil then take off the heat and allow to cool for a few minutes. Whisk together the yolks and sugar in a big bowl, then add the hot milk, still whisking, to the egg mixture and mix well. Pour the mixture back into the pan and place over low heat. Keep stirring until the custard has thickened and coat the back of a wooden spoon. Over low heat and stirring all the time, it takes about 5/7 minutes. As soon as you reach the desired consistency, take the pan off the heat and pass the custard through a sieve to a jug. Add the double cream, or milk if you want a lighter ice cream. Mix well and refrigerate until ready to make the ice cream. When the custard is cold, transfer to the ice cream maker. Meanwhile prepare the almonds.

The salted almonds are made in a very similar way than my nougatine. Heat a heavy base pan over high heat and roast the almond briefly. Remove the almonds from the pan and add the granulated sugar instead. Watch over the sugar as it starts meting and then add the almonds and the salt. Mix well to coat the almond with caramel and add sugar to create more caramel if needed. Transfer the salted caramelised almonds to a plate to cool down. As the caramel is solidifying, it will stick all the almonds together. Simply break off small pieces and mash them up in a mortar to add to the ice cream when it has reached a thick yogurt consistency. Conserve some whole almonds to decorate.