Strawberry and Peanut Butter Ice-Cream | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
Harry, Ron and Hermione strolled off along the winding, cobbled street. The bag of gold, silver and bronze jangling cheerfully in Harry's pocket was clamouring to be spent, so he bought three large strawberry and peanut-butter ice-creams which they slurped happily as they wandered up the alley, examining the fascinating shop windows.
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
J.K Rowling
It was only a matter of time before I started on the absolute smorgasbord of food throughout the Harry Potter series. I’m sure that many other children, like myself, dreamed of getting to visit Florean Fortescue’s ice-cream parlour when first exploring the world of Harry Potter within the books. Everything within the pages always (and still does) seemed so magical - even the ice creams.
Even growing up in a coastal town of Australia, where ice-cream is practically mandatory in the summer months, I had never come across this particular flavour before. It seems so bizarre that, of course, it would only be available in a magical world. Looking at it more rationally now - peanut butter and strawberry jam sandwiches were very much a staple growing up, I just didn’t really seem to put the two together.
This recipe ended up being both delightfully fruity and refreshing (little benefit of having coconut milk instead of dairy) with hidden pockets of peanut butter throughout. It may be the beginning of winter in Melbourne, but it’s never going to be too cold for ice-cream.
*Note: I used coconut milk for this recipe, however you can sub with dairy cream/milk if you want
Strawberry and Peanut Butter Ice-cream
Makes approx. 550g
Ingredients
2 x 400ml can coconut milk (full fat) *see note
350g frozen or fresh strawberries
5 tbsp peanut butter
2 tbsp corn starch
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup white sugar
Big pinch salt
Place the container of the ice-cream maker into the freezer to pre-chill.
Put all ingredients into a saucepan, excluding the peanut butter, and heat gradually until it is simmering.
Stir thoroughly to ensure all sugar and cornstarch is dissolved and mixed in.
Remove from the heat and, using a fork or masher, squish all the strawberries roughly in the saucepan. It’s fine if there are chunks remaining - it’s more delicious in the ice-cream anyway.
Pour into the container of the pre-chilled ice-cream maker and follow the directions according to your particular machine.
Once it’s nice and thick (mine took around 30 minutes), remove from machine and begin transferring to a sealable container. While you’re doing this, you want to spread spoonfuls of the peanut butter throughout the ice-cream, ensuring an even distribution.
Freeze for around one hour before serving.