As the UK continues this run of hot weather, then the best way to cool down can only be – ice cream! Gelato! Sorbet! Well … for this gelato-loving foodie who doesn’t even need a hot summer’s day to find an excuse to eat ice cream, it just has to be the season of ‘an ice cream a day’.

I love making ice cream and sorbets and the blog is full of recipes, so I’ve chosen some favourites here. I have to confess though that with the fabulous Gelateria Danieli within easy reach, my gelato addiction has been satisfied more often of late by going there to buy one rather than actually making it. But making your own opens lots of wonderful possibilities for experimentation and it’s great to have a tub of homemade ice cream in the freezer to pull out for a spontaneous treat with friends and family – or simply on your own sitting in the garden on a warm summer’s evening. I also love having some vanilla handy for affogato, one of my favourite summer treats, which fixes not only my ice cream addiction but my coffee one too! It works well with my second recipe below, adding just a kick of chocolate as well.

Here are some perfect ice cream and sorbet recipes for these hot summer days:

 

1. Pear Sorbet (click here for recipe)

I actually made this one during some bad weather earlier this year when I had a lot of ripe pears that needed using up quickly. But of course it’s fabulous as a cooling treat in the summer too and a firm favourite with my family.

 

2. Vanilla Ice Cream with Gianduioso Ripple (click here for recipe)

After discovering some wonderful chocolate and hazelnut spread in Turin at the famous Barratti & Milano cafe, I came up with this idea of enjoying it in a different way. I guess you could use Nutella but frankly it doesn’t compare and Nutella is actually full of pretty bad things while the one from Turin is full of just hazelnuts (45%) and chocolate. The spread works well as a ripple as it doesn’t harden in the same way that melted chocolate would – and really the combination with the vanilla ice cream is just heavenly!

 

3. Chocolate Semifreddo with Raspberry Coulis (click here for recipe)

I made this about three years ago and it seems strange to think now that with all my ice cream making over the years, I hadn’t made a semifreddo until this one. And gosh was I a major convert! Wow! It’s fabulous, but apart from the great taste, one of the best things about it is that it slices beautifully and is thus ideal for entertaining.

 

4. Three Citrus & Gin Sorbet (click here for recipe)

This one came about after an invitation to a drinks event, after which I was sent some special Beefeater gin and asked to come up with a recipe. If you’re a fan of G&Ts then this is the sorbet for you! A glorious combination of tangy lemon, bitter-sweet red grapefruit, sweet orange – and gin! Can there be a better way to cool down?

 

5. Summer Sorbet (click here for recipe)

This is the sorbet I’m most proud of. I’ve always loved summer pudding and think it should only be made at this time of year – June and July – when you can get all the fruit needed to make a traditional summer pudding fresh. No frozen fruit will give you the same wonderful effect. It worked so well and I remember my son turning up just as I’d finished churning it and I gave him a taste without saying what it was. ‘That is amazing,’ he said. ‘It tastes like summer pudding.’

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I hope you’ll try some of these recipes to cool you down in the warm days ahead. You’ll find plenty more ice cream recipes on the blog, so maybe take a look – here.

Happy summer days!