2008
A quick Treat: Instant Berry ‘Ice Cream’
Summer arrived briefly last week and stuck around for a day or two, and apparently is to return for another short stay next week. With it came a longing for Ice Cream, which is one of the few things I admit to missing since I started eating low carb. My tongue practically hangs out when I pass the ice cream fridges at Lidl. I particularly miss their premium vanilla which has real vanilla in it and is a total gem - you should try if you have not already done so.
But there are alternatives, and while this dessert is not really ice cream at all, it ticks all the same boxes and is very delicious in it’s own right. Plus it has the enormous advantage of being ready to eat about 2 minutes after you decide to make it - hard to beat that kind of instant gratification!
Simple as it is to make I’ve served this to people who were incredibly impressed and assumed it had taken ages. I love those kind of recipes.
This amount will serve 4 people, generously.
- 1 tub Lidl Mascarpone
- 2 dessert spoons Splenda (or sugar)
- Seeds from about 2 inches of fresh vanilla pod (or a teaspoon of vanilla essence)
- Squeeze of lemon juice
- 1/2 lb frozen berries (I used a mix of raspberry, strawberry and blackcurrant)
Put everything except the berries in the blender and mix until smooth. Add the berries and blend thoroughy.
That’s it. Serve and enjoy!
You need a good strong blender for this - frozen berries will be too big a challenge for a flimsy one.
It’s good value too. Mind you that’s because I have such a wonderful source of frozen berries, Purcell’s Farm in Dunmore, just outside Kilkenny, whose home grown raspberries and strawberries are available year round for €2.00 per lb, with blackcurrants just €1.50 per lb.
Tags: Berries, Farm Shop, Ice Cream, Mascarpone
October 4th, 2008 at 3:36 pm
You are a genius! Mascarpone!!! I’ve done this with cream and it’s good, but I bet the richness of mascarpone is so much better. Yum!
If you freeze ripe bananas and blend them you have the most amazing banana ice cream with nothing but bananas too!
October 4th, 2008 at 3:54 pm
It is better than cream - I eat a LOT of mascarpone, don’t know what I’d do for treats without the stuff!
October 5th, 2008 at 1:50 am
OK I have to have this at any cost, even without easy access to a Lidl. How big a container of mscarpone am I buying at Tesco then?
October 5th, 2008 at 11:52 am
250g - enjoy!
October 6th, 2008 at 9:48 am
I made this last night for guests, and it went down a storm! It’s just divine! Thanks Kate! I have a new dessert now that I can trot out if I want some compliments… and it was sooo easy to do.
October 6th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Oh wow wow WOW!!! Just had this and it’s like the nicest ice cream you ever ate, real or not. Don’t be fooled by how easy it is to make, it tastes absolutely sensatinal.
October 10th, 2008 at 11:47 am
That looks top notch. I don’t eat low carb (I did years ago, but lack the discipline for it) but I remember the days of whipping up things with mascarpone! I always have bags and bags of frozen berries in the freezer, they’re absolutely brilliant. That place sounds really good value for berries but I try to limit my forays through county Kilkenny to the odd trip home to Waterford. The awful roads make even my mild mannered boyfriend incandescent with rage.
Lidl used to do frozen berries, or maybe that was Aldi who did a range with added sugar (WTF, as if raspberries NEED extra sugar?!) Thankfully Aldi do ones with no added sugar now so I always stock up when I go to Tullamore.
November 5th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
This looks absolutely delicious and I can’t wait to try it! Can you freeze it?
November 19th, 2008 at 12:30 am
I haven’t tried freezing - it never lasts long enough! I’d be doubtful it would come out well, but who knows.