The first time I tasted oil in an ice cream was an olive oil flavour at @thecreamerysa in Cape Town. I was so completely smitten by the complexity and mouth feel, I’ve been experimenting with different oils ever since. And when I developed this recipe for @ilovebakingsa I knew walnut oil would be a win, especially with lemon. I took this along for Eid tea at my uncle’s place, made up a little food photography set using my aunt’s scarf as a prop while my granny tut-tutted about the ice cream melting.

Ice cream layer cakes may seem daunting in terms of time and preparation, but the cake and ice cream can be prepared separately in advance.
If you can’t find walnut oil, substitute with macadamia oil or any other nut oil.

You will need the following ingredients:

For the walnut oil ice cream:
100g castor sugar
2 medium eggs
250ml milk
½ tablespoon vanilla extract
the seeds of 2 vanilla pods
2 tablespoons walnut oil
450ml cream
½ cup of finely crumbled walnuts toasted in a bit of Stork Bake

For the cake base
½ cup Stork Bake
½ cup castor sugar
2 eggs
½ tsp lemon essence
1 cup self-raising flour
½ teaspoon baking powder

For the topping
1 ¼ cups double cream
1 cup lemon curd
2 tbsp lemon juice
½ cup of finely crumbled walnuts toasted in a bit of Stork Bake

Click on through to the Stork Bake recipe site for the method.