In Defense of Vanilla

I’m a vanilla girl and I am not ashamed to say so.

If I have to choose between vanilla and chocolate ice creams, I invariably choose vanilla.  No, it is not because I am boring and have no imagination, or lack the refined palate that appreciates the chocolate in the chocolate ice cream.  My palate is very spoiled, thank you very much, and I prefer not to eat any ice cream than to buy one of those cones with something looking like plastic foam in it from the “fat-free sugar-free ice cream” stands.  Have you ever wondered about this – if it’s fat free and sugar free, pray tell me what does it consist of?  No, better not tell me, I am not sure I actually want to know.

But, I digress.  If the choice is between really good vanilla and really good chocolate ice cream, I prefer vanilla.  And I have come to resent the fact that this royalty of the flavor kingdom has come to be regarded as a synonym for ‘boring’, ‘unimaginative’ and generally ‘blah’.

I don’t need to search far and wide to know how we have arrived in this sorry state of affairs.  You see, the major flavoring component (but far from the only one!) in vanilla is vanillin (C₈H₈O₃), which is not a terribly complicated chemical to make (in fact I remember us making it in the lab early on during my organic chemistry course), and entirely unproblematic to produce industrially.  And it is a good thing, because the demand for vanilla far, far outstrips production, and a lot of the products in which it is used are not nearly expensive enough to justify the expense of using real vanilla from the industry’s point of view.  I mean, who’d want basic candy bars to shoot up in price without any notable flavor difference? (and no, with everything else in them, the difference wouldn’t matter, not really)

Why is it then, that natural vanilla is so expensive*  (*I’ll come back to this as it is very relative!) and rare?  Well, that’s very simple too, really – vanilla flavor comes from vanilla ‘beans’, which are unripe pods of the climbing orchid in the genus Vanilla.  And as such (being orchids), they are not easy to cultivate to fruiting condition, and even in optimal conditions, they are not easy to propagate, and require fairly specialized care – not to mention hand-pollination.  Yes, if you have handled or seen a vanilla pod in the shop, it was likely the result of a guy with a dry paintbrush tickling a yellow orchid flower half the world away some months prevously.  If the resulting fruit set, it was allowed to mature some, then gathered and cured to develop the characteristic flavor.  In short, the process requires special climate, is labor-intensive and long.

Cheap ice-cream manufacturers don’t want to pay the premium.  Vanillin is used because people want vanilla, and they also want cheap ice cream and chocolate (ice cream and chocolate industries account for about 75% of vanilla use worldwide according to wikipedia), and so the industry responds by manufacturing cheap chocolate and ice cream – with vanillin.  And so the vanilla-flavored ice cream is born.  Which well… it tastes blah.  Like sugar, and not a whole lot else, really.  And because most people actually like the flavor of vanilla (I’ve never actually heard of anyone actively disliking it!), even approximated so, it is the most commonly bought flavor of ice cream out there.  And so we fall into the trap of “blah”, for vanillin simply does not have the rich, lush profile of natural vanilla from beans.

In contrast, chocolate, which is a far stronger flavor, does not taste nearly as blah when it is made as cheaply – it tastes at the very least of cocoa (which is a lot cheaper than real vanilla), which is not a bad thing in itself.

And so the misconception of vanilla = boring is born.  I think it is a grave injustice.

Furthermore, judging from the consumer behavior (and we aren’t talking about high-end shops in better parts of town), a lot of people do not actually know how different and lush natural vanilla extract is, because I see “artificial vanilla extract” and “vanilla sugar: made with vanillin” fly off supermarket shelves – while the pricier bottle of natural vanilla extract doesn’t sell nearly as well, and neither do the test-tube packed vanilla pods.

On the surface, that’s market economy – people try to get value for their money and when they can get something-vanilla for cheaper they do.  In reality, it’s neither good economy, nor do you get what you pay for.  To the industry, manufacturing vanillin-based “vanilla sugar” is cheap.  For you, buying it is expensive.  And if you consider that “artificial vanilla extract” is just some water in a bottle with a few crystals dissolved in it, then it doesn’t look like such a great deal anymore.

Let’s look at it from a shopping-cart point of view.  A box of vanillin-based vanilla sugar or a bottle of the artificial stuff (about 50ml) can run about 1.5€ – while buying 1 vanilla pod right next to them is only 2€ or so. (I am talking average supermarket price here in Stockholm.  You could probably get cheaper vanilla pods if you order them on the net for example.)

But, that one vanilla pod, which doesn’t look all that big or impressive in its pack?  It gets you one heck of a lot more than a whole jar of vanillin-based sugar and a bottle of artificial extract!  I’m serious.

Remember when I wrote about the glorious and easy to make vanilla ice cream and how it tasted absolutely amazing because of the fresh cream and the homemade real vanilla extract?  Well, here’s the thing – all it takes to make real, rich and gloriously aromatic vanilla extract at home is a small bottle (blue or brown glass is best as it protects it from sun damage), half a pod (yes, I used the whole pod but that is because I wanted mine extra rich), and about 100ml of vodka or rum.

Cut your pod in half across, and then slice the half of it you plan to use lengthwise to open up one side of it.  Drop it into bottle.  Top up with vodka or rum.  Close and let stand out of direct sunlight for a week.  Your extract is ready to use.

The other half a pod?  Cut it lengthwise too, and stick it into a glass jar and cover with fine caster sugar (I recommend that rather than powdered sugar for this as it is less likely to stick).  Close and store for a week, shaking occasionally.  It will very quickly perfume the entire jar with a very strong vanilla scent!  There, real vanilla sugar, too!

So all right, 100ml of vodka may run you another 1€, and let’s assume jar and bottle are free (I wash jars and bottles for such uses and keep them), and the sugar will run you a few euro-cent (pennies, whatever).  For the price of about 3€ and about a week’s time, you have yourself a better extract than you could easily buy in any shop, and a jar of sugar already.  But, it gets far better!

You see, vanilla pods keep their flavor for a long time.  Simply put, there is a lot of flavor packed into it.  So when you run low on the extract, just top if off with some vodka or rum again, and if you run low on sugar, refill the jar – and keep using it another few months!

With this sort of economy, there is no reason whatsoever to touch the expensive, blah artificial vanilla again.

So please, do yourself a favor.  Go to the shop.  Buy that 1 pod of vanilla.  Make extract or sugar (whatever you think you’ll use more!), or both, and get reacquainted with the rich and wonderful vanilla as it is meant to be.

Trust me.  Whatever else you may think, you will never reach for the artificial extract bottle again.  And I sincerely doubt that you’ll use the word “vanilla” for “boring” either.

I know I’ve said it before, but we are not rich enough to buy “cheap” things – not to mention that you usually get what you pay for, and in this particular case, what you lose is the enjoyment which could (and should!) be yours – and besides, if you want something done right, do it yourself.  In this case, the difference is truly remarkable.

Two-Ingredient, Five-Minute Ice Cream

WARNING:  This post contains information that will come perilously close to ruining your relationship with your jeans.  And/or the mirror.  Read at your own risk!

Anyone who knows me, knows that of all sweets, ice cream is the one I have least resistance for.  Which, as it happens, does not at all mean that I’ll eat any sort of bad ice cream whenever.  Oh no.  The above only applies to exceptionally good, ice-cream-shop ice cream, or at the very least something like Häagen-Dazs. Or, preferably, the homemade stuff.

Like this.

Because really, if we could make ice cream at home without an ice-cream maker (some of us who have tiny kitchens can’t own every kitchen gadget we want because of space issues if nothing else!), of course we’d make it as amazing as we want it to be, and without anything questionable of remotely icky on the horizon.

I have made no-churn ice creams with fresh or frozen fruit before, and they turned out amazing – but when I came across this recipe, I simply had to try it.  Because it was promised that it would deliver (and boy, did it!) an even creamier version without any, any iciness at all!  And don’t color me boring, but I love vanilla ice cream.  By that, I don’t mean the plain oversugared white stuff you can find in any supermarket, no – I mean the heavily vanilla-perfumed rich and creamy vanilla ice cream that vanilla fanatics (like me) seek like the holy grail.

Personally, I think it’s sad that the word “vanilla” has come to signify in common slang something boring and uninventive.  I blame the aforementioned tasteless concoctions labeled “vanilla” that line the supermarket shelves, and the cheapening of this queen of flavors that inevitably followed – but I digress as usual, and this is a story for another time (yes, that other time is being planned… just need to take photos!).

Back to ice cream.  This ice cream is by no conceivable definition boring, unless you hate vanilla and/or ice cream with a passion (in which case I am not sure why you are reading this post).  It is lush, it is incredibly creamy and full of that rich, perfumey goodness that we expect of vanilla ice cream.  And best of all, it is very, very easy to make!

Now, like the original writer of the recipe, I cheat.  I use more than 2 ingredients, because while I imagine this ice cream would taste wonderful even without it, I have added real vanilla extract to it.  Why?  Because of all the above and how I adore vanilla.  And because I have real vanilla extract at home, made by yours truly (like I said, vanilla talk another day), and so I could.

So, what do you need for this?  (Makes just under 2L of ice cream.)

• 2 plastic buckets or freezer-safe boxes that will hold a bit over 1L each.
• Freezer that goes to -12C or below (Two-star or preferably more rated).  I am serious here.  Mine goes to -24C and that is how high I crank it, but those little (one-star) iceboxes in some fridges that don’t really freeze food solid won’t work.
• Mixer.  I would not try this with a hand whisk although I have a friend who is scary with that thing and can whip cream or egg whites or whatever you want by hand.  I am not so gifted or exercised!
• Bowl

• 0.5L (5dl) heavy whipping cream (I used 36% one because that is what I had in the fridge, but I imagine 40% will work even better.)
• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (397g one which is apparently standard … who the heck came up with that amount?!)
• 1 tablespoon real vanilla extract (and some seeds out of the vanilla pod if you want those black specks in your ice cream)

Method:  (This takes approximately 5 minutes.  After which there is a freezing period but really, you can just go to sleep like I did and wake up to ice cream!)

• Put your cream in a bowl (add vanilla seeds now if using), and whip it to soft peak stage.
• Add vanilla extract and whip to stiff peak stage.
• Add condensed milk and whip to combine.  Mixture will be somewhat softer than stiff-peaks but that is ok.
• Pour into your boxes and freeze overnight.

Serve.  If your freezer is a mean machine like mine, take the ice cream out for a few minutes before scooping, but to be honest, with a bit of arm power, I managed to scoop this even straight from the freezer – it does not go icy and it does not go terribly solid either.  It is creamy and gorgeous and, for all of you vanilla freaks, incredibly vanilla-satisfactory.  So much, in fact, that even I tend to have a little and then feel it is enough.

Like the original author says, this is very versatile.  Next time I will make my salted caramel sauce and swirl it into a semi-frozen mixture.  Or mix in some smashed cookies like she did.  Or… the imagination is the limit, I suspect, and I really do think that adding some chocolate to the whipping cream would work wonders as well.

Now that I have this recipe, the ice cream is always, always within my reach… my jeans may think this is not such a great idea.  I may have to, you know, compromise with them and feed most of the ice cream to skinny Scandinavian friends.  Yesss… ;)

P.S.  While I make none, zero, nada claims regarding the health value of this (it has none except for those who really need to gain weight, and maybe not even then), it does have some virtues which are hard to come by in shop-bought ice cream:  It has zero food additives, stabilizers, colors or artificial flavors.  It contains no eggs at all, and so is suitable for egg allergy sufferers and vegetarians who avoid eggs.  And well… if you count your mental health, it does have a health benefit.  Like, you know, keeping you from throwing objects or crying when you have PMS.  For that, it works wonders, even in small doses.  (Yes, I’ve tried it for that.)  Oh and – for this sort of quality, it’s also really inexpensive to make, so it makes your wallet – and you – happier.  Beat that!

White Chocolate Fudge – With or Without Mix-Ins

To me, winter is the season of fudgemancery.

White chocolate apricot fudge with apricot brandy

Among other things, of course – there is a lot more to winter than fudge.  It is more that fudge is so much more of a winter dessert than one for the rest of the year – I neither crave its rich sweetness when it is hot out, nor do I want to deal with the heat of the molten sugar in summertime.  Besides, things you could have year-round, but normally don’t, the sorts of things reserved for holidays, are all the more special for that.  My homemade fudge is one of those things.

I make several sorts of fudge, usually some dark chocolate, and some white, and some plain sugar-and-butter fudge with booze in it, too, but this year I ended up making two batches of the white chocolate in a row, and even managed to photograph them before they were all gone.   And so, it was fated that I would write the recipe for the white chocolate fudge here.

Actually, it was my friend Niklas’ fault.  I’d tasked him with finding and bringing me evaporated milk (not a commodity easily found in Swedish supermarkets), and he gleefully returned with about 3x the amount I’d asked him for.  Broadly hinting that… there should be more fudge in everyone’s life.  Including his.  Obviously.

I’ve read countless fudge recipes which tell you that you can’t, can’t, can’t do it without a candy thermometer.  Frankly, that’s bulls**t.  I own a meat thermometer as of recently and I do not own a candy one – which interferes with me making fudge not at all.  It is very easy to test fudge syrup for doneness – all you need is a glass of cold water on the stove next to your pot.  Drip a drop of syrup into the glass – if it forms a nice ball, which is soft when poked with a finger, you are ready to go.  If it splats and dissolves – not yet.  Simple.

I’ve also read and tried to use several recipes for fudge with mix-ins (dried fruit, etc.) which have failed miserably.  I am not naming any names, as usual, but please, people – think!  If your syrup is just right and you mix in something which has liquid in it (such as dried apricots or not-entirely-dehydrated raisins), it will change its temperature – and the % of water in it!  This recipe corrects for that, again, without any fuss.

This recipe is adapted from a supermarket (Tesco) magaine that I’d picked up a couple of years ago in the UK.  Most of the credit for it being fuss-free and fool- Veronika-proof goes to them.

So, without further ado – how to make white chocolate fudge right on your stovetop, without a thermometer.

Note about working with molten sugar syrup:  DO NOT TOUCH IT WITH YOUR HANDS, OR GODS FORBID, DO NOT LICK THE SPOON!!!  The sugar syrup always looks rather cool, and drips slowly but it is at over 120°C at that point.  Please be careful, and do not be tempted to touch it with your fingertips or anything you want unblistered.

Equipment you will need:

• Apron.  Or a high-necked top.  You don’t want chest splattered with molten sugar, trust me!
• Your glasses or goggles of some sort (recommended for all work with molten sugar – I use chemistry laboratory glasses).
• A stainless steel or other non-reactive pot.  I do not recommend teflon as it’s neither needed, nor likes too-high temperatures.
• A silicone spatula or spoon.  Or a wooden one.
• A baking form (such as a cake form).
• Baking parchment.
• Scale and measuring cups.  Though I guess you could approximate the sugar amount by taking 1/3 of a 1kg bag plus 2 tablespoons.  Or use one of those measuring cups that has sugar marked in grams as well as volume.  In any case, you want this to be fairly precise.
• Timer and a glass of cold water.

Ingredients:

• 300g white chocolate (It must, must, must be real chocolate – not cake coating, not “bakers’ block”, but real chocolate – dessert-making grade from the bakery isle is fine, but make sure it is chocolate and does not contain starches or other thickeners, or your fudge will be ruined!)
• 350g white caster sugar
• 25g unsalted butter
• 175ml (one small can or measure out of a large can) evaporated milk (this is not the same as condensed milk and will not work interchangeably here!)
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla sugar (I use real vanilla vanilla sugar) or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 100g of whatever you like to mix in (dried cranberries or chopped dried apricots work really well with white chocolate)
• Alternatively or in addition to mix-in, you can zest 1 orange and use the zest as flavoring
• 1 tablespoon of your favorite liquor (optional)

What to do:

• Line the bottom of your cake form (I use a springform pan for easy side removal) with baking parchment.
• Put on your apron or top.  No I am not kidding.  In fact, if you’ve got glasses put them on.  I use my chemist’s eye protection gear when I work with molten sugar.  I’d like my chest and eyes not burned by a stray splat, and I know I am clumsy.
• Put butter, sugar and evaporated milk into a pot and heat on medium-low heat, stirring gently from time to time, until all sugar is dissolved.
• Allow to come to a boil, stirring occasionally.
• Once the mixture is boiling steadily, set timer to 5 minutes.  Keep watching and stirring.
• After 5 minutes, test syrup by dripping into cold water.  It should ball up.  If it doesn’t, boil another 2 minutes before retesting.
• Once the syrup has reached soft ball stage (as above), mix in first your vanilla extract, then liquor (if using), and then zest (if using), and the mix-in (fruit etc.).  Note:  sugar will boil up and splat a second or two after addition of liquids.  Stand back a little and don’t put your face over the pot when you pour in.
• Mix and boil another 1-2 minutes.  Retest syrup.  It should ball up.  If it does not, boil and test at 1-2 min increments till it does.  Do not worry – last time I made fudge, I had to retest 2x times (boil 4 extra minutes) before the mix-in, but it turns out fine.
• Turn off the heat and drop in the chocolate.  DO NOT STIR!  Stirring white chocolate as it melts will cause it to seize.  Don’t.  Just stare at it for a bit.  You can poke the pieces which are on top of the syrup deeper into the syrup with a spoon.
• When you see that most of the chocolate has dissolved (top pieces are getting meltey at the edges), take that spatula or spoon and stir the heck out of the mix.  It should become homogenous after one or two vigorous stirs.  Stir a few seconds more till the mixture begins to lose gloss (this will happen very quickly), and then pour into the prepared parchment-lined form.
• The mix should start to set almost immediately.  Do not touch the form as it will get very hot.  Let it cool and set for 3-5 hours or overnight before unmolding and cutting.
• Unmold your fudge and gently peel off the parchment (it comes off easily).  Cut it into bits of desired size with a sharp knife, wiping or washing the blade if it becomes too sticky.
• Spread fudge pieces on some baking parchment and let dry a few hours to a couple of days until dry to touch before putting into cellophane bags and giving away.  Or, you know, just eat it all.  Only… don’t eat it all at one sitting.  I don’t speak from personal experience, oh no.  I’m virtuous like that.

White chocolate orange fudge with tequila. Tequila! :D

Happy Holidays!

(Really Good) Emergency Cookies

Some days things go sideways for the ones we love.  Their train is late, or they miss it, and then it rains and the meetings are too long and the evening can’t come soon enough.  And recently T had one of those days.  The solution?  Cookies.  What, did you think cookies stopped making everything better just because you grew up?

Of course not.  Of all the things that most definitely do not get less important with age, cookies and hugs are just two examples – and you can make the former a little less PG-13 by adding a bit of chilled white wine or bubbly if you like.  I like.

Although unlike hugs, cookies do require a little bit of thinking ahead, it really is not that much.  Nor is it terribly difficult to make really, really good cookies.  In fact, it is laughably easy.

This recipe for emergency cookies is based closely on Ina Garten’s shortbread recipe from the original Barefoot Contessa cookbook, which I, by the way, love for its simplicity and the gorgeous results.  (The original recipe is also available here.)  If I had a cookie cutter (Note to self: buy cute cookie cutters!!!), I’d have made them heart-shaped too, but while making do with a narrow glass, the rounds turned out just fine too.

I’ve modified the recipe a little bit, to both, reduce the size of batch (which you don’t have to – see the link), and also added shredded orange zest because I love orange-zest pastry, and I think it goes well with vanilla.

You will need:

• Hand mixer or food processor (makes life much easier)
• Baking parchment
• Rolling pin or a clean de-papered wine bottle
• Cookie-cutter, or a glass with a thin edge, or a sharp knife

• 250g unsalted butter, softened (at room temperature or a little cooler)
• 1.5dl sugar (I use golden caster), + a little more for sprinkling (optional)
• 4 3/4dl (2 3/4 cups) white all-purpose wheat flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon real vanilla extract (or substitute 2 tbsp of sugar with 2 tbsp of vanilla sugar with real vanilla)
• zest of 1 orange

How to cookiefy self:

• Mix together flour and salt.  Some places say sift together, but I found that sprinkling salt over flour and swishing it around with a fork or spoon works just fine
• Mix butter and sugar on low to medium mixer setting until combined and light and fluffy.
• Add vanilla extract and orange zest.  Mix to combine.
• Slowly add flour and continue mixing until dough begins to come together in coarse clumps.
• Remove onto a lightly floured surface and gently mash together with hands so it forms a cohesive piece, but not too much so you do not overheat or overwork the dough.
• Roll the dough out into a flat disc about the size of a saucer/small plate, wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 30-40 minutes.  While the dough is refrigerating, preheat oven to 175°C (350F) on top+bottom setting, no fan/forced air.
• Prepare a baking sheet lined with baking parchment.
• Take the dough out of the fridge, unwrap and roll out on a lightly floured surface to the thickness of <1cm.  Cut out cookie shapes with cutter, glass or lay the dough onto a floured cutting board and slice into rectangles or diamonds with a knife.
• Separate cookies and place them on the prepared sheet, making sure there is 2cm margin between them, to allow for expansion.
• Sprinkle the tops of cookies with a little caster sugar if you like.
• Bake on middle rack for 15-25 minutes (depending on the size, shape and thickness of cookies) until the cookies are very pale golden and the edges begin to colour slightly.
• Remove from oven and use a spatula to transfer cookies to a cooling rack.
• Once cooled, cookies can be stored in an airtight container lined with some clean baking parchment for as long as two weeks (for future emergencies as a precaution … in theory).

... or for as short as it takes to eat them all!

… what are you looking here for?!  Like you need a ‘serving suggestion’ for your emergency cookies?  If it’s an emergency, it’s an emergency!  ;)

Strawberry Fields (Not Forever, Just For The Summer!)

Strawberries are in season.

It is, in my not at all humble opinion, the only right time of year to eat them – whenever they are in season where/near where you live, that is.   Although the ones shipped from far away can still look pretty in mid-winter, they sadly tend to have no aroma, and with strawberries, aroma is everything.  If they don’t smell good, they won’t taste good, since they have very little natural sugar, and, deconstructed, are essentially just some fiber, water, red pigment, a few vitamins and their utterly heavenly scent.

Now, to be honest, I am perfectly happy to eat them raw out of the box they came in.  Or chopped and splashed with cream.  Or with whipped cream if I have a spray can of that or can be bothered to whip it (though all right, it takes a couple of minutes max with an electric mixer!), but cream can be too cloying when it is hot and sunny out, and so one must come up with a solution.  For me, this is it.  It hardly takes longer to make than whipping the cream (well, you do need to let it freeze for a few hours, but that is no effort on your part unless your fridge runs off a hand crank!), and it is beyond worth the minimal effort (and the wait).

I won’t even begin to pretend that this is either low fat, low sugar or low calorie.  It’s none of those things, and it’s certainly not to be counted as one of your portions of fruit or veg a day.  No, this is sheer and utter indulgence, in all of its silky, creamy glory, and I am unapologetic for it.  Some things in life are not eaten for their health potential, but for the joy of them, and in that sense, I suppose this is rather substantially contributing to one’s mental well-being, but I’d be the last person to prescribe a 1L tub of ice cream to anyone as a depression treatment.  Eat this shamelessly, happily, as a celebration of summer and all the good things the world brings us to eat, or don’t eat it at all.

The basic ice cream recipe used here is based – loosely and with modifications – on Nigella Lawson’s no-churn ice cream recipes.  It is adjusted for using 40% whipping cream (she uses English double cream which is 48% fat, but you cannot get double cream here in Sweden unless you bother with a specialty store).  It can, in my view, stand being made with any none-too-acid fruit such as apricots, peaches, sweet mango, or possibly an aromatic pear.  I plan to experiment more as the summer goes by and all those come into their seasons.  And I do know this will work just as well with any sort of berries – raspberries or blueberries (wild if you can be bothered to pick!), and possibly blackberries as well (those tend to be more tart, but this does have enough sugar to compensate).  I haven’t tried making it with sea buckthorn or cloudberries (not a seasonal thought, but you can buy those here frozen – and they are hard to find fresh anywhere and anytime), but the thought has occurred to me now, and it is not easily dismissed.  Anyway, the strawberry heaven pictured above is simple and easy to make.

What you need:   (Yield ~ 1.3L of ice cream)

• A working freezer.  One that goes to -18°C or below is advantageous here.
• 1 – 2L worth of plastic tubs with airtight lids.  I used an empty Lindahls Mejeri Turkish yoghurt bucket and a smaller plastic tub I had around.
• 500ml of 40% fat whipping cream, chilled
• 150-175g (3dl) powdered sugar
• 1dl (2 hugely heaping tablespoons) Turkish or Greek yoghurt.  I imagine the new Russian would work as well, so long as it’s 10% fat or over, and no less!
• 2 teaspoons vanilla sugar.  I use Dr. Oetker real vanilla one, but I guess vanillin-based one would also work (if maybe not quite as well)
• 200-300g fresh, aromatic strawberries.

Here is what you do:

• Blitz strawberries and vanilla sugar in a food processor.  If yours is large enough, add the powdered sugar and mix, otherwise tip into a bowl and whisk in powdered sugar.
• Add yoghurt and whisk to combine.  Set aside.
• Whip cream in a large mixing bowl until it forms soft peaks.  Slowly tip in strawberry-yoghurt mixture and continue whipping until the mixture is uniformly colored (in case of strawberries it turns out a lovely delicate pink) and stands up in fairly stiff waves.
• Scrape into your tubs and freeze for 3-5 hours or until you are ready to eat it.

You can set the ice cream out of freezer (into fridge) for 15-25 min to take the worst of the chill off before serving, or just attack it with more gusto out the bucket the way I do.  Either way, it’s strawberry-cream heaven, and in my very humility-deficient opinion, one of the best things about the start of summer.