The ultimate vanilla ice cream with Bar-One brandy-laced chocolate sauce

For the ice cream, place the milk and 500ml (2 cups) fresh cream in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Remove from heat.

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks and castor sugar together until light, 5 minutes. Temper the cream mixture into the egg-castor sugar mixture by gradually adding small amounts. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over low heat, whisking continuously, until the custard coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vanilla essence.

Place the ice cream mixture in the fridge to chill, about 1 hour, before churning in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a freezer-proofcontainer and freeze to firm up, about 4 hours. If you do not have an ice cream maker, place the mixture in a freezer-proof bowl and freeze, about 2 – 3 hours. Just before frozen (it will be thick, but almost liquid), beat with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Return to the freezer until completely frozen.

Just before serving the ice cream, make the chocolate sauce. Place the chopped chocolate in a glass bowl that will fit over a pot to create a double boiler. In a small separate pot, place the 125ml (½ cup) fresh cream, vanilla essence and salt, and bring to a boil. Once boiling, pour the cream over the chopped chocolate, then fit the glass bowl over a pot of simmering water (do not allow the base of the bowl to touch the water). Stir the liquid until it has all melted (if small bits remain unmelted, blitz with a hand blender until smooth) and stir in the brandy. Serve hot, poured over scoops of the vanilla ice cream.