From the month of May onwards I always hope for a nice summer, this year after years of deliberating I decided to purchase an ice cream make, the Philips HR2304 to be precise.

In all honesty the summer hasn't been the best apart from early May/June but even so my ice crem maker has been used non stop.

The best thing with ice creams makers is that you can find many recipies to create in books and on the internet, it just needs to be made correctly and with the correct equipment.

The machine is about the size of a large saucepan and is white in colour it will blend your ice cream mix together in a very fast time usually about 35 minutes +. Remeber though once the ingredients are made you will still have to freeze the final mixtures.

One of my favourite recipies is to add a few whole eggs, cream and sugar to get the basic mixture then I like to add a variety of sweets bars like crunchie and twix to get that perfect taste - so many combinations to try.

The machine is very easy to use and is also easy to wash by hand at it splits into several pieces such as an outer plastic bowl, an inner bowl in which there is some liquid between the two skins which is the freezing element, a plastic paddle which fits into the small motor and a see through plastic lid with a pouring hole in it.

You pour the mixture into the top of the maker and you are away, just time and patience will do the rest of the work.