Phil's easy hot cross bun ice cream and French toast
With Easter just around the corner, Phil Vickery is off to find out about how one of our favourite treats is made at the hot cross bun factory - before putting some buns to good use in his French toast and ice cream recipe!
Hot cross bun ice cream
Ingredients
For the hot cross bun filling
4 hot cross buns
4 tbsp brown sugar
For the ice cream
275g caster sugar
150ml cold water
8 egg yolks
600ml very lightly whipped double cream
2 tsp vanilla extract
Method
Preheat the oven to 180C, Gas 4. Break up the hot cross buns and place them into a food processor then blitz until you have a fine crumb. Tip into a bowl and stir through the brown sugar thoroughly.
Spread evenly onto a parchment lined baking tray and bake in the oven for 5 - 10 minutes, until crunchy and coloured - stir occasionally to bake evenly. Once cooked, remove and cool.
Place the egg yolks into a stand mixer and leave for the moment
Place the caster sugar and water in a pan and bring to the boil. Leave to boil for 5 minutes exactly.
Once the sugar and water have been boiling for 2 minutes, set the stand mixer with the eggs to a medium speed. At 5 minutes, take the sugar and water off the stove. Turn the stand mixer up to full speed, and pour the hot syrup onto the egg yolks.
Whisk until thick, foamy and cold. Remove the egg yolk mixture from the machine
Carefully fold through the lightly whipped cream, vanilla and most of the hot cross bun crumbs. Spoon into a 1.5 litre freezer proof container and freeze until firm, probably overnight.
Using an ice cream scoop, serve in nice glass dishes, sprinkle over the reserved hot cross bun crumbs
Hot cross bun French toast
Serves: 4
Ingredients
2 large eggs
1 tbsp caster sugar
1 tbsp single cream
2 hot cross buns, cut in half
Butter, to fry
To serve
Hot cross bun ice cream
Icing sugar, to dust
Method
Break the eggs into a bowl, add the sugar and whisk together
Pour in the cream and whisk again
Soak the hot cross buns in the custard
Heat the butter in a pan and fry the hot cross buns until golden brown on both sides
Remove from the pan and serve with a generous scoop of ice cream and a dusting of icing sugar