If the north island had been about adrenaline-fuelled adventure, the south island was an entirely more relaxing affair. Whilst there, I bonded with my new friends on the crystal-clear coastline of Kaiteriteri, dressed up and danced the night away at the affectionately named Poo Pub in Mahinapua, scaled a glacier in Franz Josef, drank my body-weight in alcohol in Queenstown and wondered at the innovative town centre of Christchurch where packing containers double as shops, during the slow recovery from the devastating 2011 earthquake. And for anyone who has been to Queenstown, yes, I did try a Fergburger and frankly it was delicious. By the time I hit Kaikoura I had said goodbye to the majority of my friends as I made an accelerated rush back to Auckland for my next flight. After almost a month with my new friends, it was a difficult experience parting, but one I am destined to repeat during my ongoing travels.
The weather in the south island was marginally better than the north during our stay, and there were a mixture of hot and cold days. On those hot days many of my fellow travellers would indulge in ice cream, to stave off the heat. Although I rarely did the same, the budget situation being what it was, I did taste what I believe to be the most kiwi of all the ice cream flavours – Hokey Pokey. Hokey Pokey is, as any readers from south west England will know, another name for honeycomb. This shimmering, supersweet confection is held in high regard in NZ and can be purchased at many a souvenir outlet. The idea of combining it with rich, creamy vanilla ice cream seemed too decadent to comprehend, yet somehow the two counterbalanced eachother, providing a marvellous summer snack. The Hokey Pokey, lost some of its tooth-shattering hardness, yielding slightly in its new vanilla scented home. The overt sweetness also helped to somehow alleviate the cloying richness of the ice cream. Quite a treat indeed.
I have decided to share with you my recipe for no-churn ice cream, as well as homemade hokey pokey. I think the recipe for the ice cream originally came from the UK Good Food magazine, so I give them credit here. The ice cream is a breeze to make, but is a tad sweeter than most and must be consumed within a few days – consider that a challenge if you must! If you don’t fancy giving this time saver a try, then feel free to make your own favourite recipe, or even buy a good vanilla ice cream from the shops. The hokey pokey can be added half way through the freezing process as I have done here, or crumbled generously over the ice cream before serving.
Level: easy
Methods: whisking, caramel production
Time: 5 hours minimum (including freezing)
Makes: feeds 8-10
Ingredients
For the ice cream:
1/2 397g can condensed milk
600ml pot double cream
1tsp vanilla extract
For the Hokey Pokey:
100g caster sugar
4tbsp golden syrup
1 1/2tsp bicarbonate of soda
Method
1. Put the cream into a large bowl and whisk for a minute until it has begun to thicken.
2. Add the condensed milk and vanilla, then continue whisking until stiff peaks have formed. Do not over whisk however or the mixture will seperate and become greasy.
3. Scrape the mixture into a loaf tin or plastic tub, cover with cling film and freeze until solid (about 4-5 hours.)
4. Meanwhile, to make the Hokey Pokey, put the sugar and syrup into a saucepan and stir together.
5. Place the pan over a medium heat and allow to melt. Do not stir at this point!
6. When the mixture is bubbling and has the coppery colour of maple syrup, remove from the heat. This should only take 3-4 minutes.
7. Immediately whisk in the bicarbonate of soda and watch as the syrup erupts into an aerated golden cloud. Caution the mixture is still inordinately hot, so handle with care.
8. Turn the mixture onto a piece of good quality baking parchment or heavily greased foil. Allow to harden and cool.
9. Once set, bash the honeycomb until it shatters into glistening shards no bigger than a 10 pence piece.
10. Remove the ice cream from the freezer and delicately fold in as much (or little) of the Hokey Pokey as you wish. Replace until solid.
11. The ice cream is fairly soft for the first few days, but it is still preferable to remove from the freezer for 15 minutes before consumption to allow it to soften further.