Raspberry and vanilla macarons with vanilla ice cream

For the vanilla ice cream, place the milk, cream and split vanilla pods in a large pan. Bring slowly to the boil, stirring frequently

Meanwhile, combine the egg yolks and caster sugar in a bowl and whisk well until lightly golden

Once the cream mixture has come up to the boil, immediately pour over the egg yolks and sugar and whisk together

Strain the custard back into the pan and slowly heat until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon - be careful not to heat too much as this will cause the custard to split

Strain again and pour into a bowl, allow to cool completely before churning in an ice cream maker until it reaches a soft, ice cream consistency. Freeze until ready to serve

For the macaroons, whisk the egg whites in a bowl until firm, mix in the caster sugar gradually. Once firm, fold in the icing sugar, ground almonds and the seeds from the vanilla pod

Preheat the oven to 210°C/gas mark 7 and line a baking tray with greaseproof paper

Spoon the macaroon mixture into a piping bag with a plain nozzle and pipe small discs onto the baking tray, (about the size of a medium-sized coin) leaving room for them to spread. Place the tray in the oven and cook for 5 minutes or until the macaroons start to brown. Turn the oven off but leave the macaroons to rest inside for 30 minutes

Arrange layers of semi-whipped cream, raspberry jam and fresh raspberries on the flat side of a macaroon then top with another to make a sandwich. Repeat with the remaining macaroons and filling and serve with the vanilla ice cream