Lemon Ice

Method

Thickly butter a 1.3 litre loaf tin (or you could use a pudding basin) and sprinkle with the biscuit crumbs.

Whisk the egg whites until stiff, then gradually add the caster sugar, beating well as you go, until the mixture is very thick.

Whisk the cream with the egg yolks and fold it evenly and smoothly into the whisked whites with the lemon rind and the juice.

Pour the mixture into the prepared tin and freeze until firm.

This will keep frozen for 2-3 months.

What an incongruous sight greeted us on a walk in the gardens of Saltram House last month - November! For me it just summed up this year’s confusion of seasons; a holly bush, smothered with flaming red berries, standing only a few feet away from an exotic lemon tree, still in its outside summer position, laden with exotic fruit and attracting any red admiral butterflies still around. What kind of season will we be enjoying as you turn to these pages, dear reader?

I shall recall that image from Saltram as I serve up this Christmas day’s dessert. The Trewhitless family cannot even entertain the thought of Christmas pudding after their large helpings of traditional fare, so we usually settle for something lighter, which will slip down more easily. This year it is to be lemon ice, which I now have ready prepared in the freezer. It’s quick to prepare and as well as tasting refreshingly great, looks good. Perhaps I should stick a sprig of berried holly on the top this time and name it “Saltram Pudding”!

Mrs Trewhitless