Mary Berry recipes are a go-to for me when it comes to making desserts that don’t disappoint, and this lemon meringue cream is certainly one of them. Taking less than 10 minutes to prep, Mary described this recipe as “impressive” but “easy” to make and recommended it be served with berries.

While this recipe doesn’t require the use of an ice cream maker or fancy appliance, I thought it could be made better with the help of the Ninja Creami. 

With one look at social media, you can see how this appliance has changed the way people make ice cream. Rather than churn for twenty-plus minutes, the Creami delivers you soft-serve results in three minutes.

After unboxing, I was impressed at how slender the appliance is. While it was very tall, it slotted in easily under my cabinets for storage. The Ninja Creami comes with three pint-size containers for mixing up the ice cream complete with lids. They sit inside a larger container, that you slot into the machine using a clever twisting lock function. 

The pre-set programs are incredibly easy to navigate as Ninja has taken out any guesswork by labelling every button with the style of frozen dessert you want. 

It has seven programs including a smoothie bowl, light ice cream, ice cream, gelato, sorbet, milkshake and mix-ins. The is also a re-spin button if you haven’t reached the desired creaminess with the first function. 

Retailing currently at £149 down from £199 on AO.com, it does cost slightly more than other cream makers, but it makes up for it with its features.

With the containers quickly cleaned, I was ready to make a start on the lemon meringue ice cream recipe.

Ingredients 

300ml double cream

One lemon

One jar of lemon curd

50g meringues, broken into chunky pieces

Two tablespoons chopped lemon balm (optional)

Three passion fruit, halved pulp and seeds scooped out

Method 

I started by whisking the cream lightly - until the whisk left a trail - before adding the lemon zest and juice and half the jar of lemon curd. I then folded in the meringue, making sure to leave a handful behind.

Next, I spooned the mixture into one of the containers and placed the lid onto before leaving it in the freezer for 24 hours.

Unlike most ice cream makers, rather than churning during the freezing process, you need to freeze the mixture in one of the containers for at least 24 hours before it churns.

This should be a fast track to gritty ice cream, but instead, it works a miracle by breaking up the ice crystals enough that you’re left with one of the creamiest homemade ice creams I think I’ve had.

For those making this ice cream by hand, simply add the mixture to a 450g clingfilm-lined loaf tin and freeze for six hours.

In the meantime, I got to work on making the passionfruit sauce to top off the ice cream by mixing the other half of the lemon curd with the pulp and seeds from the passionfruit. I then left this in the fridge ready for when the ice cream was made.

Once the 24 hours were up, it was time to put the Ninja Creami to the test. To do so I simply put the container into the outer bowl before securing it into place.

Then it was time to choose one of the seven pre-set functions. The appliance has three versions of ice cream you can make - light ice cream, ice cream and gelato. Each setting is designed for slightly different mixtures and different textures. For this recipe, I went for regular ice cream.

After choosing the function, the machine does give off a very loud noise that lasts for around a minute, but after it’s done its thing, the results will make you forgive the noise almost immediately.

After the first spin, the ice cream went from being rock solid to a creamy delight. I then decided to use the Mix-In program after adding what was left behind of the crushed meringues.

I then spooned out the cream into a bowl and topped it with the passionfruit sauce. I loved the texture of it and felt like it put my store-bought cream to shame. However, in case the texture isn’t quite right there is the option of an extra spin.