La Grotta Ices

Product Information

Mix the espresso, chopped peel, chocolate and toasted nuts together and place in the freezer in a lidded container (this is so that they won’t melt the ice-cream once they are added to it). See our Remarkables Archive list for what is no longer in print, but which we are happy to track down. Perhaps I should have seen this coming — every ice cream that La Grotta Ices sells starts this way: with fresh fruit, in season. Otherwise simmer the apricot halves gently in a non-reactive pan, just until they are cooked through and piping hot (do not boil).

Her spectrum of flavours is not simply seasonal and inventive but show a playfulness and yet skilful blending of different ice cream traditions from the gelataria of Italy to the pistachio and mastic ice creams of the Middle East. They whizz it up and you sit outside in the long shadows – it’s 11 o’clock at night but still sunny – and eat this amazing ice cream. I suppose that comes from gaucho life, having to take calories on long journeys and boiling up milk in cans. This ice-cream will freeze hard because of the starch, so remove it a good 10 minutes before you want to serve it. To make the ice-cream: the following day, liquidise the chocolate custard with a stick blender until smooth.

Before I say a word about this book - La Grotta Ices which was published in June - I have to declare I know the author. I don't know about you, but I still wouldn't turn my nose up at my ice cream memory - though I'm told my Strawberry Mivvi has slipped from its stick for the last time. I am certain I will make every recipe in this book because I have the advantage of knowing just how good La Grotta Ices is. In a small converted greengrocers in south London (her ice cream shed), Kitty Travers is patiently creating an array of iced delights - fresh ice creams that taste of the real, whole fruits; hand-made choc ices that crack open to reveal layers of playful pastel-coloured flavours you didn't even know existed; juice-drenched granitas to be stuffed into brioche buns with fresh cream; and eye-popping, palate-tickling sorbets that will enliven the taste buds of all those lucky enough to sample them. As soon as the milk is hot and steaming, whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar and honey (if using) until combined.

To prepare the ice-cream: pour a little of the cold milk into the cocoa powder, stir to make a paste then whisk in the rest of the milk. It’s a really beautiful 1950s café with neon tube lighting and a stainless steel interior[footnote]They just love ice cream in Reykjavik. Cover it with a sheet of waxed paper (clingfilm tears when frozen) to avoid exposure to the air before putting the lid on and freezing to harden for at least 4 hours. With a cloth covering her hair and the pile of fruit teetering in the sunlight, the scene feels more like a Dutch genre painting than a modern city kitchen.And when combined with unexpected herbs and other mix-ins, the results are eye-opening: Rhubarb and Angelica Guava and Lemon Leaf White Grapefruit and Pale Ale Tomato and White Peach Raspberry and Sage Chocolate and CaperFeaturing 85 photographs in a stunning design, the recipes in La Grotta will utterly surprise and inspire home cooks to explore homemade ice cream in delightful new ways. And the ice creams she makes — ice creams in which nearly two decades of travel and training are condensed — really are good. The ice creams, sorbets, and granitas featured in La Grotta are fruit-focused—the best produce goes into the ice cream and sorbet bases to ensure the purest taste of the fruit shines through. If you taste a La Grotta ice cream even once, you’ll find it sets the standard for ice cream eaten many months or even years later, and many miles away.

Raised on the fringes of west London, Kitty grew up with tubs of cheap vanilla ice cream and ice cream truck Popsicles.A pinch of saffron brings a golden glow and sweet taste to dishes from Cornish Saffron Cake to Spanish Paella and Italian Risotto. Sold most Saturdays at Spa Terminus, her ice creams are true artistry with each one revealing a delicacy and freshness of flavour. The Crocus sativus flower, from which saffron is derived, has one bright red stigma divided into three filaments. Fifteen years since she first made it professionally, and 10 years since she started her own business, La Grotta Ices, she still loves it.