So in love with Hokey Pokey Ice Cream are we New Zealanders, that it rates as one of our all-time favourite flavours, being second only to plain old vanilla.
And, while we’re a small country of nearly 4.5 million, we manage to pack away a couple of million litres of the stuff every year!
Compared to some of the modern-day ice creams which outdo each other in terms of fancy flavour combinations, Hokey Pokey Ice Cream is pretty darn modest. Basically, it’s just french vanilla ice cream studded here and there with small nuggets of hokey pokey which, in the hot summer sun, melt into gooey caramel streaks. It’s simple, but that’s how we like it.
Now that I have an ice cream maker, I thought it was high time I made some. I started off by making a batch of hokey pokey, then folded it (well, most of it!) through some home-made vanilla ice cream. It was utterly delicious and every bit as good as the bought stuff, if I do say so myself. While this recipe from BBC Good Food.com is made using an ice cream machine, they do offer a no churn version, which I’ve included at the bottom of the post.
Hokey Pokey is best served as is, in a cone. However, if you want to dress it up for dessert, you can serve it in dishes with some good quality caramel sauce or chocolate sauce drizzled over top.
HOKEY POKEY ICE CREAM (using an ice cream machine)
Equipment
- 1 Ice Cream Machine
Ingredients
- About 100g hokey pokey, broken into small chunks
- 300 ml double, heavy cream
- 300 ml whole milk
- 100 g caster sugar
- 3 large or 4 regular sized egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Put the milk and cream in a saucepan and heat until just below boiling point. Meanwhile whisk the sugar, yolks and vanilla in a big mixing bowl. While whisking, slowly pour in the hot milk mixture until everything is combined.
- Pour the mixture back into the pan, then cook over a low heat, stirring all the time until the custard has thickened to just coat the back of your wooden spoon (it should have the texture of a pourable Creme Anglaise). Cool, then put into the fridge for a couple of hours until well chilled.
- Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream machine according to the instructions. Once the ice cream has been churned, fold in the hokey pokey chunks (don’t be tempted to add the hokey pokey while the ice cream is churning – it will end up being fully incorporated into the ice cream and you’ll end up with no crunchy bits whatsoever). Scrape into a 1 litre freezer container (cover well with a couple of layers of foil) and put in the freezer for several hours, or overnight until solid.
- Serve in ice cream cones, or in dishes drizzed with some caramel or chocolate sauce.
