Last month I treated myself to an ice cream maker for two reasons, actually no, three. First, I was in a meeting with some colleagues from Taiwan and told them I had never made home-made ice cream and they were so shocked and sad, because they said home made is so easy and so much better than commercial versions and how could I have never even tried to do it myself? (I did feel bad, but needing to go back to the freezer every half hour or so to manually chop at a frozen mix in order to make an ice cream isn't my idea of cooking fun). Second, I saw an article (by Guardian food writer and goddess Felicity Cloake) for the perfect chocolate sorbet recipe - the photo looked absolutely amazing and it literally required just 4 ingredients but... Felicity said an ice cream maker was essential. Third, years ago my Dad got an ice cream maker when he retired, supposedly (despite his sweet tooth..) to make ice cream for the grandchildren, and the memories of seeing him spoon out servings of new flavours for excited family members always makes me smile. Last month I was browsing an online retailer's Summer Sales and saw an ice cream maker that seemed to be yelling "Buy me, Buy me!!" (clever algorithm...), so I did!! And I couldn't be happier. I have been making one flavour per week, and this one is my latest and favourite so far. I'm using the Italian gelato format - i.e. more milk, less cream and no eggs, which gives a less heavy texture than traditional ice cream. Ideal for hot weather