Nothing perks up a midsummer evening like a scoop of velvety ice cream. With a plethora of flavours to choose from – raspberry ripple and pistachio are personal favourites – and its mouth-tingling coolness, you just can’t beat a cone or cup of the stuff.

With no ice cream machine to hand, sadly, I’ve so far had to satisfy my cravings with shop-bought tubs. But not only are the flavours relatively humdrum (Heston Blumenthal’s salted caramel popcorn variety being a welcome exception), they also tend to be rather pricey.

In need of a quick fix and loathe to buy more Ben & Jerry’s, I was delighted to learn that you can churn your own flavours without an ice cream maker. I adapted this simple Nigel Slater recipe to make a gorgeously creamy coffee and chocolate button ice cream (feel free to substitute the buttons for chunks of your favourite chocolate; I imagine a crumbled-up Crunchie or some Oreo biscuits would be equally delicious). It’ll be the easiest ice cream you’ve ever made!

You will need

1L ready-made custard (Nigel recommends you buy one that’s made with fresh cream and vanilla pods)

200ml coffee

Handful of chocolate buttons or chocolate chunks of your choice

1. In a large freezerproof dish, gently combine the custard and coffee until you have a smooth mixture.

2. Fold through the chocolate buttons.

3. Place in the freezer for a minimum of 3 hours, churning every hour or so with a fork to prevent ice particles building up.

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