If your head says, “go to the gym” but your heart says “eat ice cream,” you’re not alone. It seems that New Zealanders might want abs but they want ice cream even more.

They beat Australia (by a few scoops) to pole position by consuming more ice cream per person than any other country in the world. Ice cream would appear to be part of our DNA down under, so making it should come easily.

As the kids run inside after building up the biggest sweat under the sun, what refreshing flavours can you tempt them with to quench their thirst or tickle their tastebuds? Read on for the Summer ideas for kids you need.

The Origins of Ice Cream

So, who invented ice cream? Much depends on how you define the sweet snack. There are accounts of frozen desserts as far back as 550 BC. The Chinese, Italians and French can all claim snippets of evidence of ice cream treats from the 16th century.

In our neck of the woods, a New Zealand newspaper ad’ for ice cream appeared in 1866 suggesting it was becoming à la mode. The ad’ claimed to offer ice cream for the first time in Wellington and by 1875, commercial manufacturing was well underway.

Today, New Zealanders eat an average of one ice cream every 3 days with Australians trailing not far behind at one every 4 days or so.

Must-Try Ice Cream Mash-Ups

Vanilla, New Zealand’s hokey pokey and chocolate top the charts for flavour but strawberry beats them all as the most popular to satisfy our penchant for fruity chunks.

The general consensus is that it takes about 50 licks to finish your average ice cream. But, size matters and so do the ingredients. It’s safe to assume, for example, that honey and pistachio flavour might take longer to get through than its plainer cousins.

Some restaurants have tried out some weird, but apparently wonderful, concoctions: pizza, honey jalapeno pickle and smoked salmon flavours to name but a few.

Let’s start though with a few favourites. Ice cream has long embraced a high sugar and fat content but it’s possible to make a treat that’s as delicious with fewer calories. Arguably, it’s easier to create a healthier option with fruity ice block recipes. Here’s a mashup-up of both:

1. Ice Block Recipes

You can get really imaginative with ice blocks by layering and adding everything inside from pieces of fruit to gummy bears.

Take 170g each of fresh strawberries, pineapple, raspberries and cherries along with 2 tablespoons of honey. Blend each of the fruits with 130ml of water and a half tablespoon of the honey. Place in your moulds inserting the sticks in their holders.

When frozen, remove from the moulds and dip in melted chocolate, nuts, or sprinkles. If you haven’t got purpose-made silicone ice moulds, you could use a stirring stick and reusable cup.

Here are some more flavour ideas that work well on their own or in layers:

• Watermelon
• Orange and kiwi
• Strawberry and coconut milk
• Banana and peanut butter
• Cookies and cream (crushed cookies mixed with cream or yoghurt)
• All kinds of frozen jelly- mix with gummy bears
• Apple, pineapple or orange juice
• Mango juice mixed with chia seeds
• Coconut milk with chopped mint leaves and chocolate pieces
• Lemon juice, honey and crumbled shortbread

2. Quick Frozen Yoghurt

You’ll need ​​4 cups of frozen fruit, 1/2 cup plain Greek yoghurt, 2 teaspoons vanilla extract and 3 tablespoons honey.

The great advantages of this recipe are that it’s healthy and you can use any kind of fruit and yoghurt with any fat content.

Using a food processor combine the frozen fruit, Greek yoghurt, vanilla extract and honey. This should take around 5 minutes. You can then serve it immediately or freeze it for a couple of hours first.

3. Hannah Montana Vanilla Ice Cream with 3 Ingredients

Here’s a piece of pop trivia:

    Q. What do Hannah Montana, Selena Gomez, Nicki Minaj, Mika and Blur all have in common?

They’ve all recorded songs with the words “ice cream” in the title.

Given its global popularity, it’s perhaps surprising there aren’t more songs about ice cream. For our Hannah Montana flavour, you're going to need 3 cups of chilled cream with a high-fat content, a can of chilled condensed milk and a tablespoon of vanilla extract.

Whip the cream with an electric mixer until it begins to thicken and then gradually mix in the condensed milk and vanilla. Tip the mixture into a zip-top freezer bag, get rid of any air and seal. Stick the bag in the freezer, lying it flat. Leave in the freezer for about 3 hours.

When you take the ice cream out of the freezer, remove it from the bag in chunks. Place the chunks into a high-powered blender and mix until smooth. You may have to do this in several batches. Put the ice cream in an airtight container and freeze until the kids can no longer resist.

Once you have your base you then have the option of adding in flavours. Here are some suggestions:

• Mix in any kind of defrosted frozen fruit from mangoes to strawberries
• Half a cup of cocoa powder with a sprinkling of instant coffee granules
• 2 tablespoons of honey
• Turn it into a banana split with added nuts and chocolate sauce

4. Make Vanilla Ice Cream Like a Pro

There are a million and one variations of vanilla ice cream recipes. This one takes it up a notch from the basic cream and condensed milk model.

You’ll need 250 ml of thick cream, 200 ml of full-fat milk, 115g of caster sugar and 3 egg yolks (preferably free range) along with 1 vanilla pod. Should you have an ice cream machine, so much the better but this recipe will work without one.

Step 1

If you’ve got an ice cream machine, place the canister in the freezer the day before you want to make the ice cream. Pour the cream, milk and half the sugar into a pan along with vanilla pod seeds as well as the pod itself cut into 3 or 4 pieces.

Step 2

Heat the mixture over a low heat. Stir occasionally until it nearly boils. Take the pan off the heat and set it aside for half an hour to let the vanilla flavours infuse.

Step 3

In a bowl, beat the egg yolks with the rest of the sugar for around 2 minutes. You’ll notice the mixture thickens and starts to look paler. Take about a quarter of the cream mixture and beat it into the egg yolks you’ve mixed with the sugar. Reheat the rest of the cream mixture until it almost comes to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.

Step 4

Put the pan on a low heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, for 10 minutes. The custard mixture should be thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Ensure the mixture never comes to a boil or it will curdle.

Step 5

Pour the custard into a bowl. Sit the bowl on top of another bigger one filled to about a third full with iced water in it to cover. Leave for around 20 minutes, stirring once in a while before putting the smaller bowl in the fridge overnight, or for 3-4 hours if you’re in a hurry.

Step 6

Remove the vanilla pod pieces. If you have an ice cream machine, pour in the custard mixture and let it churn for around 20 minutes. Spoon the churned mixture into a plastic container and freeze for 3 hours.
 

Step 7

If you don't have an ice cream maker, follow step 1 but without the cream. Continue with the next steps but at the beginning of step 6, whip the cream so it’s light, and floppy but not too stiff. Fold it into the cold custard and freeze for 3 to 4 hours. Stir every hour until almost frozen. Then freeze completely. 

You should remove the ice cream 15 minutes before you want to serve it. You should never refreeze it once defrosted but it will keep for 3 months in the freezer.

5. Hokey Pokey Ice Cream

A New Zealand national treasure, the hokey pokey flavour goes by many different names in other countries, typically honeycomb ice cream. You can use either of the 2 vanilla ice cream recipes and then mix in the honeycomb.

To make the honeycomb, you’ll need 4 tbsp sugar, 2 tbsp golden syrup and 1 tsp baking soda

Line a regular baking tray with non-stick baking paper. Put the sugar and syrup in a wide-based pan over a gentle heat and stir continuously until the mixture comes to the boil.

Simmer for 5 minutes over a very low heat, stirring from time to time. Take the pan off the heat and add the baking powder. Stir vigorously until the mixture froths up. Pour the mixture onto the baking tray straight away and allow it to cool.

Once the hokey pokey is cool you can break it into rough chunks and stir them into your ice cream.

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