Florentine and brown butter ice-cream sandwiches

To make the ice cream, place the butter in a small saucepan and cook over a medium heat until nutty and brown. Allow to cool.

Add the milk, vanilla seeds, sugar and salt and bring to the boil.

Whisk the egg yolks while gradually adding the brown butter, then pour the milk mixture onto the brown butter-and- egg yolk mixture. Transfer to the saucepan.

Cook over a low heat until the mixture has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve into a clean bowl, then whisk in the cream.

Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn according to instructions, or freeze and whisk once every hour until completely frozen. Keep in the freezer until ready to use.

To make the Florentines, preheat the oven to 170°C and line 2 baking trays with greaseproof paper.

Combine the corn flakes, almonds and cherries with the condensed milk.

Place spoonfuls of the mixture onto baking trays with enough space between them.

Bake until light golden brown 20 minutes, then cool on wire rack.

To assemble, sandwich a scoop of ice cream between two Florentines and serve.

Cook’s note: Do not cook the custard for too long or you’ll end up with scrambled eggs instead of a smooth custard. Keep the egg whites from your custard to use for making meringues. Once frozen, you can make balls of ice cream and freeze to save time on assembly.

The Florentines and ice cream can be made two days beforehand, so all you have to do is assemble your ice-cream sandwiches after lunch – or let everyone have fun making their own around the table.