I am not sure how traditional and authentic my ice cream is but it is made from evaporated milk. I have read and heard about evaporated milk ice cream being sold in Malta in the ‘good old days’ in slices from vans. I haven’t been able to resist trying this.
My prickly pears that I bought the other day (refer to a previous post) were eaten within a day, even though they were meant to be used for this recipe. I just had to go and buy myself some more.
Traditionally ice cream with cinnamon was served at weddings and religious celebrations. I thought I would make my ice cream with prickly pear, cinnamon and vanilla as it was a nice twist to the original traditional ice cream with cinnamon. We were married in 2010 in Malta and we had our dessert as ice cream with prickly pear too.
Everyone in Malta loves to go and get ice cream in Summer (and Winter for that matter). The weather over the Summer period is hot, Malta is surrounded by sea and some of our neighbours are Italian. I guess it is hardly surprising. Every time my family are in Malta for a holiday we have a favourite ice cream shop that we go to. The owners are Sicilian/Maltese. One of their ice cream flavours is prickly pear ice cream when in season. Delicious.
The ice cream I made is by no means Italian gelato standard but it is a lovely dessert. I have used evaporated milk in my ice cream as that is what was traditionally used. I have seen other versions use condensed milk too. My cousin recalls a van going into her village selling evaporated milk ice cream in slices to all the children (and adults).
There seem to be a few versions on how to make this ice cream and I am still trying to work out what was the ‘traditional’ method. This is my version which is easy to make and you don’t need an ice cream churner. I may try using less cream in my next version as I love the taste of evaporated milk and the cream is a little overpowering. You may not want to use prickly pear syrup but make it plain (just add vanilla essence when thickening the milk and cream). I have seen this made with lemon zest and citrus peel. I have also seen this served with nuts.
- 1 tin evaporated milk chilled (about 370 ml)
- 600 ml double cream
- 1 table spoon caster sugar
- For the syrup:
- 10 prickly pears, skins peeled and discarded
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- ¼ vanilla pod or 1 tablespoon vanilla essence
- Sliced prickly pear for serving
- Prepare the syrup by blending the prickly pears with a hand blender.
- Strain the juice. You should have about 350 ml prickly pear juice.
- In a small pot on medium heat add the cinnamon, seeds from the vanilla pod and the vanilla pod.
- Now add the prickly pear juice and bring to a boil. Reduce immediately to medium heat and leave for 20 minutes.
- Once the time has passed remove the vanilla pod and allow to cool completely by placing in the fridge for about an hour.
- In a large bowl with an electric beater mix the milk and cream until thickened.
- Place in a rectangular container and freeze for an hour.
- Once the time has passed gently mix in the prickly pear syrup into the ice cream.
- Place back in the freezer and leave overnight.
- When ready to serve, leave to thaw for about ten minutes.
- Slice and serve with sliced prickly pear and a sprinkling of cinnamon.
Pureeing the prickly pear.
Straining the prickly pear puree.