INGREDIENTS 300g (10½oz) dried apricots 300ml (½ pint) apple juice 4 tbsp golden caster sugar 400g (14oz) Greek yogurt 4 tbsp crème fraîche 2 tbsp runny honey  METHOD Put the apricots, juice and sugar into a saucepan with 100ml (3½fl oz) of water. Set over a medium heat and bring to just under the boil. Remove from the heat and leave to plump up overnight (turn the fruit over every so often).  Whizz the apricots and their liquid to a fine purée in a food processor. Push through a sieve (with not too fine a mesh), pressing hard to get as much of the mixture through as possible. You shouldn’t end up with much left in the sieve.  Stir the apricot purée into the yogurt, completely incorporating it, then mix in the crème fraîche. Taste for sweetness. Pour into an ice-cream machine and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. While it’s churning, add the honey. If you don’t have an ice-cream machine, pour the mixture into a broad, shallow freezer-proof container and put into the freezer until solid. Break the mixture up – the easiest way is in a food processor – three or four times during the freezing process so the ice crystals are broken down for a smooth ice cream. Add the honey during the last beating of the mixture.  Allow to defrost a little before serving.  Read more: 12 best ice cream machines  INGREDIENTS 125g/4 ½ oz tahini 125g/4 ½ oz honey 500m/17 fl oz full milk 250ml/8 ½ fl oz double cream 2 egg yolks 3 handfuls of shelled pistachios, finely chopped  METHOD Place the tahini and honey in a saucepan and stir over medium-low heat. Simmer for three minutes, stirring regularly. Take off the heat and slowly whisk in the milk and cream, stirring until well combined.  Place the egg yolks in a bowl and stir in two tablespoons of tahini mixture; pour this mix into the tahini mixture and return to a low heat. Gently cook, stirring for five minutes until thickened. Leave to cool.  Give it a taste and add a little more honey if needed (don’t forget food tastes less sweet when frozen). Add a good pinch of salt and transfer to an ice-cream machine (pass it through a sieve if lumpy). Churn according to the machine’s instructions.  Working quickly, spoon a third of the ice cream into a plastic container and smooth the surface. Scatter over a handful of pistachios, spoon over another third of ice cream, then more pistachios and repeat once more until you finish with the pistachios on top. Cover and place in the freezer  This slightly grainy, deeply flavoured ice cream inspired by Francis Fenocchio's ice cream parlour in Nice is made the Fenocchio way (with no eggs) and has milk in it as well as cream. If you prefer a denser creaminess, use double cream instead.  Don't go out and buy the liqueur specially, but if you do have one of those kitsch monk-shaped bottles of Frangelico, splash it in. Either way, serve the ice cream with Chantilly (whipped, sweetened) cream and chocolate sauce or raspberries.  INGREDIENTS 3½oz/100g chopped roasted hazelnuts 2oz/60g soft brown sugar ¼pint/140ml milk ¼pint/140ml single (or double) cream 2 tbsp Frangelico liqueur (optional)  METHOD Liquidise the hazelnuts, sugar and milk to make a really smooth, thick purée (a handheld blender is ideal for this). Stir in the cream, and the liqueur if you're using it.  Rub the whole lot through a fine sieve, then chill in the fridge.  Churn in an ice cream maker. If you don't have one, pour the mixture into a shallow plastic box, cover and freeze for three hours or so. Turn the frozen mixture out on to a board and cut into chunks with a large knife. Whizz the chunks in a food processor to a smooth, thick cream, and freeze again. Repeat if necessary.  Before shying away from the thought of making ice cream, all you need to make this rhapsody in rose pinks is a good strong liquidiser and to pre-freeze the fruit – or even better buy ready-frozen fruit which tends to be loose and not stuck together in clumps that can be hard to process. Redcurrants can be substituted for one of the red fruits, or blackcurrants, but adjust the sugar to make sure the ice is sweet enough.  INGREDIENTS 300g cherries, pitted and frozen 300g strawberries, de-stalked and frozen 300g raspberries, frozen 300ml yogurt 100g golden caster sugar (or more)  For the syrup 150g strawberries, liquidised 30g icing sugar  METHOD You will need four tall glasses – chilled in the freezer before using – and three containers to put the different ice creams into. Put the cherries in the liquidiser with 100ml yogurt and one tablespoon of sugar. Liquidise to a soft icy pulp then put in a container and place in the freezer. Repeat with the strawberries, adding 100ml yogurt and a tablespoon of sugar, then with the raspberries but this time omitting the yogurt. Put all in the freezer so you have three soft ices. To make the syrup add the icing sugar to the liquidised strawberries and then strain it through a sieve. When ready to serve, scoop layers of the fruit ices into the glasses, then put a dollop of yogurt on top of each and pour over a little strawberry syrup.  I’m almost scared to admit that I’m not the biggest fan of plain vanilla ice cream (made with regular cream). I like something with a touch of acidity, which this has (not to mention a good slug of booze). It’s delicious with baked fruit and fruit compotes (particularly plums and prunes).  INGREDIENTS 300ml (½ pint) milk 115g (4oz) caster sugar 3 egg yolks ½ tsp vanilla extract 450ml (16fl oz) sour cream 1 tbsp lemon juice 4 tbsp vodka  METHOD To make the ice cream, heat the milk with half of the sugar, stirring from time to time to help the sugar dissolve. With an electric beater, whisk the rest of the sugar with the egg yolks until the mixture is creamy white and foamy.  Have a bowl ready sitting in some cold water (just set it in the sink). Bring the milk to scalding point again, then add the vanilla and pour the milk onto the egg yolks while whisking all the time.  Put this into a heavy-bottomed saucepan, or in a bowl set over a pan of simmering water (the latter takes longer but is safer) and heat the mixture over a gentle heat, stirring all the time.  The mixture must not overheat or the eggs will scramble. If you run your finger through the mixture on the back of a spoon and it leaves a path, your custard is ready. Immediately pour it into the prepared bowl and leave to cool.  When the custard is completely cold, stir in the sour cream, lemon juice and vodka and either churn in an ice-cream machine, or put into the freezer, beating it with an electric beater (or scrape it all out and whizz it in a food processor) three times during the freezing process.  INGREDIENTS 500g damsons 100ml water 200g caster sugar 250ml double cream 250ml natural yogurt  METHOD Rinse the damsons, then bring to the boil with the water in a stainless-steel pan. It might not look like enough water, but it is.  Turn down the heat and simmer the damsons gently for 10 minutes until the skins have burst and you have a quantity of deep purple juice.  Push the fruit through a fine sieve with a wooden spoon, working the pulp through the mesh until you have nothing left in the sieve but stones.  Return it to the heat, add the sugar and then simmer gently until the sugar is dissolved. Leave the purée to cool.  Stir in the cream and yogurt, and taste to check the amount of sugar (remember that once the ice cream has frozen, its sweetness will be less pronounced).  Churn the mixture in an ice-cream machine, or freeze in a tray for about four hours, stirring every 30 minutes.  You can get salep (a powder made from orchid root) in Middle Eastern groceries or from steenbergs.co.uk at £2.55 for 60g. If you can't find it, use cornflour instead. Steenbergs does mastic at £4.35 for 13g.  INGREDIENTS 3 tbsp salep or cornflour 450ml (16fl oz) full-fat milk ¼ tsp mastic (optional) 8 cardamom pods 150ml (5fl oz) double cream 125g (4½oz) caster sugar 3 tbsp rosewater 1 tbsp lemon juice  METHOD Mix the salep or cornflour with a little of the milk to make a smooth paste. Grind the mastic, if you are using it, in a little mortar and pestle. It is easier if you use some granulated sugar with it to act as an abrasive.  Grind the seeds from the cardamom pods, and heat with the rest of the milk plus the cream and sugar. Stir to help the sugar dissolve. Add the paste and gently bring to the boil. Tip in the mastic if you are using it. Stir to make sure everything is smooth, then turn the heat down low and let everything simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring. Leave to cool completely then add the rosewater and lemon juice. Churn in an ice-cream machine, or put in the freezer, beating the mixture in a food processor three times during the freezing process.  Serve with a few rose petals scattered on top.
Telegraph writers share delicious &ndash; and unusual &ndash; ice cream recipes inspired   by all corners of the globe