Rhubarb and custard ice cream sandwiches

Step 1

For the rhubarb compôte, place the rhubarb, sugar, lime juice and glucose in a small non-stick saucepan. Cook gently for 10–12 minutes, or until the rhubarb has softened and broken down. Remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl. Stir in the essence, if using, and leave to cool completely.

Step 2

Meanwhile, to make the ice cream, whisk the condensed milk, cream, vanilla and glucose together in a bowl until it forms soft peaks. Fold in the cooled rhubarb mixture to create a ripple effect. Transfer to a plastic container with a lid and freeze for 4 hours, or until firm.

Step 3

Meanwhile, to make the biscuits, place the butter and sugar in a bowl. Cream together until pale and fluffy, then add the egg and almond extract. Add the flour and custard powder and mix to form a ball of dough. Flatten the ball slightly and wrap in cling film, then chill in the fridge for 1 hour.

Step 4

Preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5 and line a baking tray with baking paper.

Step 5

Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the dough to the thickness of 7.5mm/⅓in. Use a 6.5cm/2½in round cutter to cut out biscuits. Collect the off-cuts, roll again and cut out more biscuits until you have used up all the dough. You should have eight biscuits, to make four sandwiches.

Step 6

Place the biscuits on the baking tray and prick with a fork to stop them from rising too much. Bake for 15–20 minutes, or until light golden-brown but visibly yellow from the custard powder.

Step 7

Leave to cool on the tray. Once cooled, sandwich a large scoop of ice cream between two biscuits. Repeat with the remaining biscuits. Eat before they melt!