INCREDIBLE Rum and Raisin Ice Cream!

Recipe: Rum and Raisin Ice Cream Recipe »

This rum and raisin ice cream is the best version of this delicious ice cream that I've ever eaten. It's based on a Rick Stein recipe using malaga raisins and Pedro Ximenez and has a delicious twist on a classic rum and raisin (I think it's even better!). Plus I will show you an egg free recipe which is so easy to make! This is a pushy recipe Dear Reader.

I first ate this incredible raisin ice cream when we went to Rick Stein at Bannister's a few months ago. Rum and Raisin is my favourite ice cream flavour but you don't see it very much on menus any more. And when I saw it on the menu I ordered it and it was like the very best rum and raisin ice cream ever but with a twist as they use Pedro Ximenez. And luckily Rick Stein has shared the recipe! Pedro Ximenez is a traditional Andalucian sherry wine that is sweet and intense. It actually reminds me of raisins but with added depth to it so it naturally pairs with a rum and raisin ice cream.

Is there alcohol in rum raisin ice cream? Yup there is rum or in this case you can also use Pedro Ximinez. I will also show you how to make this non alcoholic or lower in alcohol.

Who invented rum and raisin ice cream? It was said to be Sicilians who soaked malaga raisins in local wine and then combined it with vanilla gelato. When it made its way over to America they replaced the wine with rum! So this is probably closer to the very original ice cream.

10 Helpful Tips For Making Rum and Raisin Ice Cream

1 - The secret to making this an incredible rum and raisin ice cream is the enormous golden raisins. Rick gets his from Malaga in Spain but these are not easy to find here. But you can buy golden raisins at large greengrocers, Middle Eastern stores and spice stores!

2 - I use thickened cream for this and just regular condensed milk. Don't use light cream as you want it to whip up nicely and light cream isn't suitable for whipping.

3 - It's also very important to plump up the raisins. If they're not plump enough then they will be hard and chewy in the rum and raisin - not pleasant and you'll wonder why you're making this! Start the recipe a couple of days before and do a quick 15 minute soak in hot water from a kettle - the hot water really starts the plumping process. Then drain and soak the raisins in rum or Pedro Ximenez. Honestly it's a flavour preference, I feel like if you have a sweet tooth then you might prefer PX (I did) but if you love rum then go for rum! It's your ice cream - that's the joy of homemade ice cream, it's what you want it to be :). I used a Brix spiced rum but any brown rum will do. White rums like Malibu lack the complexity of brown rums which are aged in barrels.

4 - I don't really recommend simmering the raisins in rum or PX as you'll lose a lot of the alcohol in it.

5 - Rick's recipe uses a French custard method that creates a custard with egg yolks, cream and sugar. But since eggs are so hard to get at the moment I thought I'd try it using my favourite no churn ice cream recipe that I've been using ever since I first started making years ago. It uses a tin of condensed milk and cream. I also lost one crucial little part of my ice cream churner so I wanted an ice cream recipe that didn't require churning!

6 - Make sure that your cream and condensed milk is cold. You need to whip the cream first with a whisk until you get soft peaks. Then add the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla and that's it! Perfect, sweet ice cream that doesn't require churning whatsoever.

7 - Another secret is to finish this off with some Pedro Ximenez sherry. Just drizzle a bit over the ice cream once you scoop it. I promise you won't regret it! You don't even have to go for a fancy PX sherry. I bought an inexpensive Barbadillo Pedro Ximenez that also comes in a smaller 375ml/13floz size in case you don't think you'll drink more afterwards.

8 - As this is a home made ice cream, you want to ripen it. That just means that you just want to take it out of the freezer 10 minutes before you want to eat it and leave it on the benchtop. If it is very hot where you are ripen it for 20 minutes in the fridge.

9 - Dip the ice cream scoop in a glass of water between scoops.

10 - Other serving suggestions are almond biscotti or toasted kataifi sprinkled on top for a crunchy contrast.

And if you love rum as much as we do here, try my hot buttered rum this hot buttered rum cake is something special. Or these healthy rum balls have all of the flavours of rum but are healthy!

Rum and Raisin Ice Cream

An Original Recipe by Lorraine Elliott

Preparation time: 15 minutes plus 2 nights soaking

Cooking time: 0 minutes

Makes 1 litre of ice cream

This recipe is best started 2 days before

• 1.5 cups/250g/8.8ozs large green or golden raisins
• 150ml/5flozs rum or Pedro Ximenez
• 500g/17.6 flozs thickened or pure cream, chilled
• 400g/14ozs sweetened condensed milk, chilled
• Pinch salt
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• Pedro Ximenez to serve

Step 1 - Pry apart the raisins and place them in a bowl. Pour over 2 cups of water from a just boiled kettle, cover with a plate and soak for 15 minutes. Drain the water and then soak them in rum or Pedro Ximenez for 2 nights in a shallow, covered bowl. Stir the raisins once or twice so that they all absorb the liquid. By then they should be very plump and soft - they should not be hard at all. You should only have less than 1 tablespoon of liquid left. Cool completely.

Step 2 - Whisk the cream on medium high speed until you get soft peaks. Then drizzle in the condensed milk and add the salt and vanilla and whisk until smooth and homogenous. There should be no condensed milk pooled at the bottom of the mixer bowl. Fold in the soaked raisins and up to 2 tablespoons of the liquid (supplement with more rum or Pedro Ximinez). Place in a 1 litre/2pint loaf tin and smooth over the top. Cover and freeze until set.

Step 3 - 10 minutes before you want to serve it , take the ice cream out of the freezer to let it ripen and come to temperature on the benchtop (unless it is very hot where you are, in which case ripen it for 20 minutes in the fridge). Scoop the ice cream into bowls or cups and drizzle some Pedro Ximenez (or rum) over the ice cream and serve.

Adding the PX really adds a wonderful depth of flavour to your rum and raisin ice cream. As I mentioned I bought an inexpensive one just for cooking but we also tried it with an expensive bottle of PX.

Recently Mr NQN has gotten to know my friend Carla's boyfriend Jay who also works in technology. When we get together it's always two guys talking tech while Carla and I talk food (she has a Meyer lemon paste business called If and When). Carla is from New York but has her lemon business in California and Jay is from Texas but Sydney is their base although they fly back back and forth between the US and Australia.

Jay is at university here doing a post grad degree and Mr NQN spent some time helping him with an assignment. Afterwards, Carla thoughtfully suggested that Jay buy Mr NQN a present so she asked me what he likes. Apart from wingfoiling purchases and random tech things I racked my brain to think of something that he would want. And then I remembered Mr NQN has a little collection of PX.

A few weeks later Jay sent a beautiful bottle of 2002 Toro Albala Don PX with a note that he received a very high score for his assignment and it was used as an example and shown to the class! We tried some of this Pedro Ximenez drizzled over the ice cream and it was absolutely divine and toasted to Jay!

So tell me Dear Reader, if someone had to buy you a gift, what would it be? Hvae you ever tried rum and raisin ice cream with Pedro Ximinez?