Making ice cream: the easy way

Making your own ice cream is great. But not everyone has an ice cream maker, or the patience to wait for hours until your creation has set. The solution: buy a tub of good-quality vanilla ice cream, let it soften slightly and stir in your own ingredients.

Put it back in the freezer for just a little while and your quasi-homemade ice cream is ready. Here are some suggestions, but above all, stir in anything you feel like.

Stroopwafel

Crumble stroopwafels and stir them into your ice cream. For extra points, swirl in some (salted) caramel sauce too.

Cookies

You can actually use any kind of cookie, because what’s better than ice cream with a crunch? Kletskoppen work very well, especially combined with strawberry or raspberry. Or go for chocolate chip, bokkenpootjes or Oreo. Want to add a swirl here too? Nutella works really well.

Brownie

Chewy brownies with crunchy pieces of chocolate in them. Donna Hay shows here how to make them; just make sure you get a piece of brownie in every bite.

Coconut mango

Shredded coconut, diced mango and that’s it—how simple can it be? If you want to put in a little more effort, you can toast some (or all) of the coconut for a more intense flavor.

Fruit

Put your choice of (frozen) fruit in a saucepan with a few spoonfuls of sugar and a squeeze of lemon or lime juice. Simmer over low heat until some of the fruit has dissolved, while some chunky pieces remain. Let it cool and then stir it into the ice cream. Also delicious with yogurt in the morning.

After Eight

Finely chop mint—preferably in a mini chopper or food processor, so it releases its flavor evenly. Add pieces of dark chocolate and your homemade After Eight ice cream is a fact.

White chocolate macadamia

Okay, this takes a little more work because you have to make the salted caramel macadamia praline yourself. Then put it in a Ziploc bag or clean tea towel and smash it into pieces with a rolling pin or the bottom of a pan. Add white chocolate and you have the best ice cream flavor ever.

Pistachio

Grind very finely for the ultimate distribution of flavor, then add a few large chunks for crunch. Hello, new favorite ice cream.