Irn Bru Ice Cream

I first properly fell in love with Irn Bru about 8 years ago on a trip to Scotland in which I had run out of tonic for gin and needed a suitable substitute. In walked Irn Bru, strutting its Barley water, sugary goodness saying "I contain quinine". It worked perfectly with gin and I've been in love ever since.

But when Irn Bru announced it was making an ice cream, I knew I had to get my hands on it. Sadly, it's only currently on sale in Glasgow and Scottish friends were unwilling to bring me some back from their ventures north of the border.

Necessity breeds ingenuity and I decided to make my own Irn Bru ice cream.

You will need:
 - 1 litre of Irn Bru
 - 300ml full-fat milk
 - 300ml double cream
 - 4 egg yolks
 - 2 teaspoons of cornflour

 - 1 litre freezable container. I used an old ice cream tub

This recipe comes in two parts. The first is the creation of the Irn Bru syrup.

For this stage you want to use a pan which you wouldn't miss if it got ruined, just in case. Pour your litre of Irn Bru into the pan and bring to the boil and reduce until half.

Combine the cornflour with a small amount of water to create a paste and add to the Irn Bru. Reduce further until half of the remaining liquid has gone. You should now be left with a quarter of what you began with and a thin syrup.

The second part of this recipe is the ice cream itself.

In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks together for a few minutes.

Place the cream and milk into a milk pan on a medium heat and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat and pour the dairy mix into the eggs, whisky until completely mixed.

Add the Irn Bru syrup at the stage and watch your custard go orange.

Return the Irn Bru custard mix back to a pan and place on the lowest heat possible, continuously stirring until the mix has thickened. You can check this by drawing your finger over the back of the spoon to create a line. If the line remains stable the custard is ready.

Strain the custard into the bowl and leave to cool to room temperature. Transfer into the container and put it into the freezer.

Every few hours you will have to remove it from the freezer and whisk, or stir, so that you break up the crystals and get a smoother ice cream.

When finished you should have something that looks a bit like this