No churn pomegranate ice cream

I am cooking dinner for a couple of friends tomorrow night. I received my first order from Herbies this week, which included pomegranate molasses, ras el hanout and za'atar - all ingredients I have not been able to easily procure, so I was eager to incorporate them into the menu. So not surprisingly then, I have a bit of a Middle Eastern theme going on. This is the menu I have planned... I hope I get it all done.

Starters
Turkish bread (bought the bread; I am going to brush it with olive oil and sprinkle it with za'atar before baking it)
Fried halloumi with lemon juice and pepper
Cucumber and pomegranate salad (recipe from Feast, Nigella)
Herbed bulghur wheat and nut salad (another recipe from Feast)

Main
Lamb and apricot tagine served with either couscous or rice (think I will cook the couscous in chicken stock with a little ras el hanout - maybe - otherwise plain)

Dessert
Chocolate and pistachio cake (recipe from How to be a Domestic Goddess, Nigella)
No Churn Pomegranate ice cream (recipe from Nigella Express)
bought Turkish Delight (yummy stuff made in Cyprus with pistachio nuts in it)

I had hoped to get the cake made tonight, but went grocery shopping too late, so that will be on the list of things to do first thing tomorrow. I did however get the pomegranate ice cream made, so that is one less thing to worry about tomorrow. It's a bit of an indulgence, as pomegranates aren't cheap, but I wanted it to be a special meal. This recipe is super easy - no custard-making required, and no churning (not that churning bothers me, being the proud owner of an ice cream machine, but for those without a machine, this is a definite bonus). I have previously made Nigella's orange ice cream (recipe in Nigella Bites), and this is basically the same recipe. The orange ice cream was fabulous, so I am confident this will be good too.

Ingredients

• 2 pomegranates (plus seeds from a 3rd for decoration, optional)
• 1 lime
• 175g icing sugar
• 500ml double cream

So simple. Juice the pomegranates and lime and strain the juices into a jug. Add the icing sugar and stir to dissolve.

Whisk the cream (I employed the assistance of my KitchenAid here, but I am sure you could do it with a whisk and some elbow grease without too much hassle, thereby burning off some of the kJs you intend to consume!) until soft peaks form. Fold in the fruit juice syrup and continue whisking until the cream thickens again to form soft peaks. Pour into a suitable airtight container and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds to serve, if using. C'est tout.

strained pomegranate and lime juice; adding the icing sugar

Once the icing sugar dissolves, the mixture forms a syrup-like consistency.

Ready to freeze. I love the beautiful pink colour!