Rhubarb and ginger liqueur ice cream with home made bourbon biscuits.A pudding to see the New Year in

The gorgeous Grace Dent might well describe this as "less of a pudding, more a rumination on the brevity of the human existence and the farce of maintaining a small bottom".

 A while back our dear friend Kristine introduced  Edinburgh Gin´s Rhubarb and ginger liqueur into our lives.We treated it as a regular gin and served it as a gin and tonic,which was very nice thank you,but we never toyed with the idea of drinking it as a liqueur.Then this recipe came along that changed my way of thinking.Marrying it into ice cream was too much of a good thing to miss out on.An ode to the classic cook’s flavour pairing, sweet spring-crop rhubarb marries with warm spicy ginger.Stir that into a custard, freeze it,serve it up with the contrasting texture and flavour of some home made bourbon biscuits and YUM,who said puddings are too sweet? We tried it out on our friends from the UK last weekend and it was thumbs up all round.The recipe was in the September edition of olive magazine and is a stroke of genius from British chef Chris Boustead of the Islington restaurant and wine shop,Linden Stores.Thank you Chris we will surely come and visit your neighbourhood hangout on our next visit.

FOR THE ICE CREAM
3 egg yolks
100g caster sugar
300ml double cream
250ml whole milk
174 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp Edinburgh Gin rhubarb liqueur
Whisk the egg yolks and sugar using electric beaters until pale and fluffy.Put the cream,milk and vanilla extract into a pan and bring slowly to a simmer.Pour the hot cream mixture over the eggs,while whisking.transfer back to the pan and cook over a ow heat,stirring until it coats the back of a wooden spoon or reads 86º on a digital thermometer.Pour into a bowl,cover the surface with clingfilm and cool completely,then add the rhubarb liqueur.Pour into an ice cream machine and churn until frozen.
FOR THE BISCUITS
100g butter
40g plus 1tbsp caster sugar
10g soft golden sugar
1 egg,beaten
150g plain flour,plus extra for dusting
50g cocoa powder
1/2 tsp baking powder
Using electric beaters ,cream the butter and both sugars until light and fluffy.Add the egg and remaining dry ingredients, then beat until a stiff dough forms.Wrap and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Heat the oven to 180c/gas 4.Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a large rectangle the thickness of an Euro coin and then cut into 6cm x 4cm rectangles.Put onto baking paper lined trays and prick neatly with a fork.
 FOR THE FILLING
25g dark chocolate
50g butter
75g icing sugar
50g soft golden sugar
1tsp whole milk
10g cocoa powder
Melt the chocolate and then cool.Beat the butter and sugars with an electric whisk until soft and fluffy,then add the milk,cocoa and melted chocolate.mix well and put into a piping bag.pipe the filling onto four of the biscuits,then sandwich with four more.