Green tea ice cream, white chocolate sauce and sesame crunch

Serves 4 Desserts and puddings

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Method

To make the green tea ice cream, place the milk and 300ml of the double cream in a saucepan and bring very slowly to the boil. Immediately remove from the heat.

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl until pale and smooth, then stir in the matcha powder until it is completely incorporated.

Slowly stir in the hot milk and return the whole mixture to the saucepan. Return the pan to the heat and stir with a wooden spoon over a low heat until the mixture thickens to coat the back of the spoon. Allow to cool completely and chill for an hour. After an hour, freeze the mixture in an ice-cream maker following the instructions until it reaches the right consistency. Freeze or serve.

Meanwhile, make the sesame crunch. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C F/Gas 4. Line a large baking tray with baking paper and set aside. Scatter the sesame seeds (using a mix of both black and white) onto a second baking tray and toast in the oven for 5 minutes, or until aromatic. Transfer the seeds to a bowl.

Place the sugar, syrup and butter in a small saucepan and heat gently, stirring until the mixture comes to the boil. Remove from the heat, stir in the sesame seeds, then immediately pour the mixture onto the prepared baking tray. Using a damp palette knife, spread the mixture out as thinly as you like – around 2mm is good.

Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden, checking after 10 minutes to ensure it isn’t beginning to overbrown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Crumble the toffee into pieces.

Heat the remaining 75ml of double cream in a small saucepan until it just reaches the boil. Remove from the heat and immediately stir in the white chocolate until melted. Allow to cool.

To serve, scoop the ice cream into balls, drizzle over the cooled chocolate sauce and serve topped with the sesame crunch pieces.

Note: If you don't have an ice-cream maker, make in the usual way. Freeze the custard in a bowl for 2 hours and then stir, to start breaking down any ice crystals. Freeze for a further 1 hour, beat and continue with this until the ice cream is thick and creamy, then either serve or allow to freeze completely.