Fresh Mint, Lemon & Yoghurt Ice Cream

NOT a recipe for the faint-hearted! Unless you have an ice cream machine, there is some whisking to be done throughout the freezing period, but that just means making it on a day when you're going to be home, and keeping your eye on the time! You don't have to sit with it constantly! I've not made this yet, but it really sounds well worth the forward-planning! I found this recipe in the October 2005 issue of the Australian magazine 'Delicious'. It's Belinda Jeffrey's recipe, her first recipe in this magazine in a section called "fresh start". She says at the beginning of the recipe "Begin this recipe the day before"! Well, yes, you'd need to! This ice cream sounds so delicious - I just love the inclusion of Greek-style yoghurt, absolutely my favourite yoghurt! I'm posting it here for the 2005 Zaar World Tour, as a Greek and as an Australian recipe. Preparation times are rather difficult to calculate: it really does depend on how many times you decide to repeat step 8! I've based my calculation on the minimum preparation time required. I think pistachio nuts would taste great in this recipe, perhaps 1/4 cup, added at the final whisking stage.

• Ready In: 7 hrs 20 mins
• Serves: 6

Ingredients

• 2  cups caster sugar
• 1 1⁄4 cups  tightly packed mint leaves, plus extra mint leaves to garnish
• 1⁄2 cup lemon juice, strained
• 2  cups  Greek yogurt
• 1⁄2 cup  thickened cream, lightly whipped till it forms soft peaks

Directions

1. Place the sugar and 2 cups (500ml) of cold water in a saucepan over a medium heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Stop stirring, then increase the heat to medium-high and bring the syrup to the boil.
2. Return the heat to medium and simmer for 12 minutes, occasionally using a brush dipped in cold water to brush down the sides of the pan and to remove any sugar crystals (they are otherwise likely to make the syrup cloudy).
3. Remove from the heat and leave to cool, then pour the mixture into a container and chill.
4. Place the chilled syrup in a blender with mint and lemon juice. Blend at a high speed until the mint is very finely chopped.
5. Place the yoghurt in a large bowl and whisk well until it is smooth, then fold in the whipped cream. Add the syrup and whisk to combine.
6. If you have an ice cream maker, churn the mixture in it. Otherwise, pour it into a large, stainless-steel bowl and freeze for about 3 hours or until frozen 5cm (2 inches) from the edge.
7. Remove the bowl from the freezer and use a whisk or hand-held beaters to give the ice cream a really good whisk, breaking up ice crystals and smoothing it out.
8. Repeat these freezing and whisking steps once more. (For an even smoother texture, repeat these steps a few more times).
9. Pack the ice cream into a container, cover it tightly and freeze it at least overnight or until it is firm.
10. Serve the ice cream with extra mint.