Finger, Fork & Knife

A fun and easy twist on the classic apple pie – wonderfully tangy, sweet and oh-so-slightly boozy apple-swirled ice cream is sandwiched between two crisp, golden rounds of puff pastry – it’s a mille-feuille of an ice cream sandwich. Topped with a light dusting of cinnamon-spiked icing sugar these sweet sandwiches are perfect for apple pie enthusiasts who are looking for a lighter, cooler and more refreshing apple pie fix.

For the ice cream:

5 apples – I used pippins and russets

Juice of 1 lemon

30ml Cognac

150g light muscavado sugar

160ml pouring cream – organic if possible

For the caramelised apples:

4 small apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces

150g caster sugar

30ml Cognac

50ml pouring cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter

Good quality butter puff pastry

Egg yolk, for brushing

Icing sugar

Cinnamon

In a saucepan, combine caster sugar, cognac and a dash of water and cook over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to the boil and cook for approx. 4-5 minutes until the mixture has turned a lovely dark golden colour. Add the cream and butter and cook for another minute until combined. Add apple pieces and mix to coat the apples. Continue to cook for another 5 or so minutes until the apple is soft and tender and the pieces of apple have broken down slightly. Remove from the heat and let cool completely.

Peel, core and quarter the apples, then chop them into small pieces. Pop the apple pieces into a blender with the lemon juice and blend until smooth. Add the Cognac and muscavado sugar and whiz again. Pour in the cream and blend briefly to combine the mixture. Taste – the mixture should taste sweet, a little tart and pleasantly boozy. Strain through a sieve (optional) and pour into an ice-cream maker and churn until thickened and set, following the manufacturers instructions. Spoon ice cream into a clean container, drizzle with the caramelised apple mixture, swirling to combine and form a ripple effect. Pop into the freezer for at least 2 hours.

In the meantime, preheat oven to 180C and cut 8 circles out of the butter puff pastry. Brush with egg yolk and dust with a little icing sugar and cinnamon. Bake in the oven until the rounds are puffed, flaky and golden. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

To serve, place scoop of the ice cream on a round of pastry and top with another round. Push down gently to create a delicious apple-pie sandwich. Dust with extra icing sugar and serve immediately.

Serves 4