Cherry Almond Ice-Cream Sandwiches with Choc-Fudge Sauce

These sweet mouthfuls are bursting with fruity flavour, creaminess and crunch.

Cherries and almond essence make a heavenly pairing in the ice cream, while the devilish hot choc-fudge sauce brings everything together in a passionate embrace.

• 450g fresh Cherry Time cherries
• 80g castor sugar
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 tin (385g) condensed milk
• 2 tsp almond essence 1½ tsp vanilla essence
• 400ml whipping cream
• 226g milk or dark chocolate, chopped
• ¾ cup whipping cream
• 2 tbsp butter ¼ cup light corn syrup or golden syrup
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp vanilla essence

Method:

1. Pit all your cherries by pulling the fruit apart by hand and removing the pips.
2. Add the cherries to a medium-sized pot along with caster sugar and water, then heat on medium-low until the sugar has dissolved and the cherries have broken down and released some juices (about 15 minutes).
3. Pour into a bowl and allow to cool.
4. Once cool, blitz your cherries in a food processor, leaving them slightly chunky to add texture to your ice cream.
5. In a small bowl, mix together the condensed milk, almond essence and vanilla essence. In another bowl or stand mixer, whisk the cream until stiff peaks form.
6. Slowly add the condensed-milk mixture and continue beating until creamy and smooth. Using a spatula, add 3/4 of the cherries to the cream mixture and stir well.
7. Transfer the mixture to a loaf tin or Tupperware tub.
8. Spoon the remaining cherries on top and gently swirl it in with a spoon to create a pattern. Cover tightly with cling wrap and freeze overnight or until the ice cream is your desired consistency.

Chocolate Sauce

1. To make the chocolate sauce, in a medium-sized saucepan, stir together the chopped chocolate, cream, butter, corn syrup or golden syrup and cocoa powder.
2. Heat on medium, stirring constantly until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is nice and smooth, taking care not to burn it.
3. Add a splash of milk or cream if you like a silkier consistency.
4. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla essence.
5. To serve, take the ice cream out of the freezer to soften, before scooping.

Give yourself the gift of fresh, seasonal fruit this summer, make sure you put ruby-red Cherry Time cherries on your shopping list this harvest season, which starts in November. Look out for fresh Cherry Time in selected PnP stores or have them delivered right to your door.

Order yours before they disappear on CherryTime.co.za.