having made a few batches of my mum's easy vanilla ice cream i decided to vary things a little and make a fruit ripple version.

400g of mixed berries were warmed through until they started to burst. i then pushed them through a seive to remove any seeds, and swirled this through the latest batch of ice cream. easy as pie and much more suited to this sunny weather that we're finally getting to enjoy!

cheesecake confuses me. it’s one of those foods that large numbers of people get incredibly excited about and i’ve no idea why, finding it overly rich and sweet, often bland and never something that lives up to the hype.

i was quite intrigued therefore, to see that this month’s daring bakers challenge, chosen by elle from feeding my enthusiasms and deborah from taste and tell, would require me to bake a cheesecake for the first time.

obviously, because this is a daring bakers challenge, getting us to make a baked cheesecake was not sufficient – instead we were tasked to make cheesecake pops, using a recipe from sticky, chewy, messy, gooey by jill o’connor.

so, how did i get on?

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this is the ice cream of my childhood and remains one of the few ice creams that i really enjoy. it is incredibly easy to make, not requiring a custard, churning in an ice cream maker or regular stirring as it freezes. it is also the ice cream that is responsible for a friend’s daughter stopping being a vegan – powerful stuff eh?

i decided to keep things simple and just added vanilla flavouring but you can adapt the recipe easily, adding chocolate chips or perhaps fruit puree and swirling it through the mix for a rippled effect.

it’s probably fifteen years since i’ve eaten this ice cream and it’s as good as i remember. it also passed the david taste test (he’s a big ice cream fan) and as a result will no doubt appear (briefly) in our freezer on a regular basis.

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we’ve been eating quite a lot of asian dishes recently, inspired by chinese new year and my new found passion for jiaozi. on workday weekday nights a single course of something hot and steaming is all we tend to have time for but when it’s the weekend and friends are visiting a more leisurely approach is called for, which means pudding!

trying to some up with a light option wasn’t easy until i pushed aside my cookbooks and decided to create something myself. the two bottles of ginger wine sitting in the cupboard, were the starting point. add some star anise, cinnamon and a chilli kick and this recipe for chinese-spiced poached pears was born.

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meringue is a favourite of mine and whenever i’m cooking for friends i often consider whether or not a i can squeeze a meringue pudding into the menu. eton mess is a particular favourite and i now have something that i can use when the soft fruits of summer are not available.

this meringue stack was inspired by a nigella lawson recipe although she uses a chocolate crème patisserie filling and sprinkles her stack with shards of pistachio. my version is definitely not a healthier option but it less time-consuming, relying on a filling of double cream whipped with a bought chocolate sauce.

and what a chocolate sauce – i used napa valley belgian chocolate sauce with cabernet sauvignon, a gift from a well-travelled friend. the alcoholic kick added an additional touch of decadence making this the perfect dinner party dessert.

hopefully it is also perfect for foodie chickie ani's event in honour of her passion for nigella lawson. it’s not a nigella recipe but i think it fits perfectly with her philosophy of decadence and short cuts where practicable!

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