Last year I suggested two ice cream recipes for dessert on Christmas Day - traditional vanilla ice cream for those with simple, traditional tastes and Egg Nog ice cream for the more adventurous. This year I'm not going to suggest an ice cream for Christmas Day at all ... surprised? Well this time I'm going to encourage you all to enjoy a traditional Christmas Pudding with cream, brandy sauce or custard ...Then, having bought an extra Christmas Pudding, cook this the following day (26 December) and use it to make your own Christmas Pudding Ice Cream!
In many families, the day after Christmas Day is a quiet day - no special meal and no desire for one either after the previous day's feast! However, making the day special in some other way is a great idea and ice cream is just the treat. Let's face it, if you have children in the house over Christmas it's not always ease to keep them from getting bored - this is where ice cream is nearly always a winner! They will not only enjoy having homemade ice cream but the fact that it's something they've probably never had before will make it even more exciting for them.
Indeed, you can cook the Christmas Pudding in the earlier part of the day without anyone knowing if you like and make the ice cream later, only announcing to everyone at that latter stage that homemade ice cream is on its way. The clever cook must always keep something up her sleeve and there's little that is more pleasurable to people than being given a surprise treat!