Best of Christmas (Part One)

It's December, its snowing and it's a week till Christmas...well what else would i talk about at this time of the year.

Food:
My love of Nigella Lawson remains strong, despite this disappointing TV series compared to last years 'Christmas' recipes, but i will push on because last Christmas i discovered a dessert which not only looks tempting but has a bloody good name: GIRDLEBUSTER PIE! A glorious mix of biscuit, chocolate, ice-cream and caramel. Basically ripping your fillings out, very sweet, heart-attack in a bowl of loveliness and here's how to make:

Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS

FOR THE BASE

* 375g digestive biscuits
* 75g soft unsalted butter
* 50g dark chocolate pieces or chips
* 50g milk chocolate pieces or chips

FOR THE ICE CREAM FILLING

* 1 litre coffee ice cream

FOR THE TOPPING

* 300g golden syrup
* 100g light muscovado sugar
* ¼ teaspoon Maldon salt or pinch of table salt
* 75g unsalted butter
* 2 x 15ml tablespoons bourbon
* 125ml double cream

METHOD

1. Process the biscuits with the butter and chocolate pieces or chips until it forms a damp but still crumb-like clump. Press into a 23cm pie plate or flan dish. Form a lip of biscuit a little higher than the plate or dish if you can. This process takes patience as you need ideally to form a smooth even layer. Sorry. Freeze this biscuit-lined layer for about an hour so it gets really hard.

2. In the meantime, let your ice cream soften, just enough to be scooped, in the fridge. Spread the ice cream into the hard-biscuit-lined dish to form a layer. Then cover in clingfilm and replace in the freezer.

3. Put the syrup, sugar, salt (if using) and butter into a saucepan and let it melt over a low to medium heat, before turning it up and boiling for 5 minutes, then turn off the heat and add the bourbon, letting it hiss in the pan. Add the cream and stir to mix into a sauce, then leave to cool. And once the sauce is cool, but not set cold, pour it over the pie to cover the ice cream layer and then put it back in the freezer. Once frozen, cover with clingfilm again.

4. When ready to serve, remove from the freezer, take the whole pie out of its dish and cut into slices. Should you have any pie left over, slip it quickly back into the dish and return, covered with clingfilm, to the freezer.