Rhubarb jelly and Bird’s custard ice cream

Method

1. For the ice cream, mix the custard powder with 3-4 tbsp of the milk in a large bowl until smooth. Put the remaining milk, the 150g caster sugar and the vanilla extract in a medium saucepan over a medium heat and heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Ladle a little of the heated milk into the bowl with the custard powder and whisk together. Pour the custard mixture into the milk pan and keep whisking. Turn down the heat to low and cook slowly and gently until thickened (see tip). Pour the custard into a clean bowl and cover with a layer of cling film touching the surface to prevent a skin forming. Set aside to cool completely.
2. Pour the double cream into a large mixing bowl and use an electric hand mixer to whisk it to stiff peaks (when you lift out the beaters the tips of the peaks formed won’t droop). Whisk in the cooled custard, then pour the mixture into an airtight/freezerproof sealed container. Freeze overnight.
3. For the jelly, put the rhubarb in a saucepan with 200g of the caster sugar and 500ml cold water. Bring to the boil, then simmer on a low heat for 10 minutes until the fruit is soft. Put the gelatine leaves in a medium bowl of cold water to soften for 5 minutes.
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4. Strain the softened rhubarb through a fine mesh sieve into a measuring jug (set aside the strained pulp). You’ll need 800ml rhubarb liquid; if there isn’t enough top up with water. Pour the liquid back into the saucepan and put on a low heat to warm. Squeeze the excess water from the gelatine leaves and whisk into the hot rhubarb liquid until completely dissolved. (If you want to add a splash of natural food dye, now’s the time.) Pour the jelly into the prepared moulds. Once cool transfer to the fridge to set for at least 6 hours or overnight.
5. Put the set-aside rhubarb pulp in a small pan with the lemon juice, the remaining 30g sugar and 100ml cold water. Cook over a low heat for a few minutes to make a rhubarb compote. When ready to serve, take the custard
   ice cream out of the freezer for 5-10 minutes to soften, then serve a scoop alongside the jelly with a dollop of compote.