In 1995, to celebrate its 60^th anniversary, Penguin Books published a series of small, pocket sized books known as the Penguin 60s series. There were 2 main sets, each of 60 books, one of “classics” (with black spines) and one of 20^th century and contemporary writers (with orange spines). To keep the “60” theme going, in the UK they cost 60p each (about 78c at today’s exchange rate). As avid bookworms we couldn’t resist them.

Penguin also published small sets of these books on specific themes: children’s books, biography, travel and cookery.

Although just consisting of ten small books, the cookery series featured some of my favourite British food writers such as Elizabeth David, Nigel Slater and both Jane and Sophie Grigson. They are handy little volumes which I still thumb through when looking for inspiration, regularly spotting recipes that had escaped my notice on previous occasions.

So it was that I recently spotted a recipe from Sophie Grigson for marmalade ice cream that I’d never noticed before.

We have just finished marmalade season. While much of the preserving calendar revolves around storing the bounty of summer, the season for fragrant Seville oranges is from around December to February so in the Northern hemisphere it provides a preserving opportunity in the middle of winter, filling the kitchen with the glorious bitter sweet aroma of the Sevilles as they transform into thick, sweet marmalade. 

As I generate a new set of jars for my store cupboard it is a good time to see how much I have left from last year’s batch and come up with ideas to use it up. As Sophie says herself, her recipe is “a good way to clear the shelves, before the winter’s new arrivals”.

Seville orange marmalade is of course wonderful when simply spread onto hot buttered toast. But it is also a versatile ingredient. You can use it in cakes or cookies, make a glaze for meats or vegetables, or even use it in cocktails or to make chocolates.

The ice cream recipe only has two ingredients and seemed fairly simple so I couldn’t resist.

The recipe tells you to put 12oz of marmalade in a bowl and “beat”. If your marmalade has fairly big pieces of peel in it you might want to chop it up a little or even give it a quick blast in a food processor to give you a smoother texture in the final ice cream.

Then whip 10oz of heavy cream (double cream in the UK) until it is stiff, fold it into the marmalade and put the mixture in the freezer. It doesn’t require stirring or beating as it freezes and can be served directly from the freezer.

It really is that simple and a delicious blend of creamy, sweet and bitter.