Instant dinner party

Instant dinner party – pudding
from delicious. magazine

Astonish friends with your culinary skills – no one need know that you prepared and froze it all in advance!

Caramel ice cream with chocolate peanut shards
Serves 6, takes 30 minutes to make, plus cooling and freezing. Freeze for up to 1 month. Remove from the freezer 10 minutes before serving. Make the chocolate shards on the day.

5 medium egg yolks

Seeds of 1 vanilla pod

125g caster sugar

284ml carton double cream

225ml full-fat milk

150g plain chocolate, broken up

50g natural roasted peanuts (from health food shops), roughly chopped

1/2 tsp Maldon sea salt

1. Put the yolks and vanilla seeds into a large bowl. Whisk for 3-4 minutes, until pale and thickened.

2. Dissolve the sugar and 3 tablespoons water in a pan over a low heat. Increase the heat and cook, without stirring, until it's a golden caramel. Remove from the heat and add the cream – be careful, it will spit! Add the milk and cook gently, stirring, to re-melt any hardened caramel.

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3. Gradually stir the caramel into the eggs, then return to the pan. Cook over a medium-low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of the spoon. Tip into a bowl and cover the surface with cling film. Cool, then strain into a 1.3-litre freezerproof container. Cover and freeze until it is solid around the edges. Tip into a food processor and whizz to break up the ice crystals. Return to the container, re-freeze and repeat 2 more times, until smooth and frozen. Alternatively, churn in an ice cream machine following manufacturer's guidelines.

Sprinkle the nuts over the melted chocolate, pressing them in lightly, and chill until hardened

4. On the day you want to serve the ice cream, melt the chocolate in a bowl over a pan of just-simmering water. Stir, then spread out onto a large board lined with baking paper, to a large square. Sprinkle over the nuts, pressing them in lightly. Sprinkle with the salt and chill until hardened. Cut into long, jagged shards. Serve the ice cream with the chocolate shards.

Per serving 567kcals, 42.3g fat (23g saturated), 7.8g protein, 41.3g carbs, 38.6g sugar, 0.5g salt

Simple starter
Tasty main

Photographs by Lis Parsons, styling by Morag Farquhar.

Recipe supplied by delicious. magazine. delicious. magazine is the ideal choice for busy mums on the go: on sale monthly and packed full of great recipe ideas, top food features and expert advice. For further details and to subscribe, visit delicious.