I have always loved the double act combination of rhubarb and custard – maybe something to do with the fact that it’s one of my favourite childhood cartoons (I’m showing my age now). These look fantastic – resembling a sophisticated rocked iced lolly (oops, showing my age again). They are best made in tall shot glasses and taste amazing. Keep them in your freezer to impress your friends with when the mood for reliving your childhood days grabs you.
*makes about six
Takes 20 minutes to make, plus 4 to 5 hours freezing time
For the rhubarb layer: 250g rhubarb, trimmed and finely sliced
100g caster sugar
1 tablespoon ginger syrup from a jar of stem ginger (optional)
For the custard layer:
75ml double cream
150ml bought ready-made custard
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract, or scraped seeds of 1 vanilla pod
1 tablespoon icing sugar, sifted
You will also need: Tall double shot glasses or lolly moulds
Wooden lolly sticks, wooden skewers or teaspoons
To make the rhubarb layer, place the rhubarb in a saucepan with the sugar and cook over a gentle heat until it has softened to a purée consistency. Stir in the ginger syrup, if using, transfer to a blender or food processor and blitz to a smooth purée. Leave to cool, and then pour into the glasses or moulds. The purée needs to come halfway up the glasses or moulds. Freeze for about 2 hours until firm.
For the custard layer, lightly whip the double cream, and then stir in the custard, vanilla extract or seeds and icing sugar. Spoon or pour on top of the frozen rhubarb layer. Place a lolly stick in each one and freeze for 2 to 3 hours. If you can’t get lolly sticks, neatly trim long wooden skewers into equal lengths, without leaving any splintery ends, and place three together in each lolly. You could also stick in small metal teaspoons.
Remove the lollies from the freezer 15 to 20 minutes before you need them to make it easier to pull them out of their glasses or moulds. If you can’t wait that long, dip them into warm water.
Ps. Rhubarb and custard is a classic combination, but any fruit purée will work with the custard, so have a play around with different flavours. You can even speed up the process by using tinned fruit in syrup, bought fruit purées or sauces.