Book's an ice cream dream; Recipes.

When restaurant owner Morfudd Richards saw a pink Seventies ice cream van on eBay in 2004, she knew she had to have it.

Putting her credit card where her heart was, she bought it "unseen" and flew down to Land's End to collect it.

But the spontaneous purchase turned out to be a filthy, mouldy Mr Frosty which blew up on her journey back to London.

According to Morfudd, it was only with the help of the RAC, the Bedford Van Appreciation Society and gallons of paint-stripper, that Mr Frosty became Lola's on Ice - a mobile catering service for gourmet ice cream lovers.

"I had been running my own restaurant for 10 years," explains Morfudd. "But I had only a basic understanding of ice cream making."

Drawing on knowledge from running Lola's Restaurant in Islington, she began developing recipes that would blow people's taste buds.

Morfudd's experience of food encouraged her own experiments with ice cream favours.

Her book Lola's Ice Creams and Sundaes contains some of the creamy-tasting fruits of her labour, all of which have been scribbled on the van's specials board over the last four years.

CRAB ICE CREAM WITH SHERBET (Serves 45 canapes)

INGREDIENTS For the ice cream: 500ml fresh fish stock; 200ml whole milk; 200ml double cream; 3 large egg yolks; 150g caster sugar; 150g cooked brown crab meat; 100g cooked white crab meat; 2tsp fresh lemon juice; For the sherbet: 90g sorrel leaves; 750g Greek yoghurt; 300ml stock syrup, cooled METHOD For the ice cream, bring the fish stock to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the milk and cream.

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar. Add the warm milkfish stock to the egg-sugar mix then return the mixture to the pan. Heat, stirring continuously, to 80C and maintain for 15 seconds. Do not allow the mix to boil.

Take off the heat and continue whisking for a few minutes to reduce the heat.

Transfer the mix to a container, and place in an ice bath, to cool the custard to 4C. Put a little custard in a blender with the crab meat and lemon juice, and blend to a puree. Stir the crab puree into the custard; cover the container and put in the fridge to mature for a minimum of 4 hours. Strain.

Churn in an ice-cream machine until firm. Put in a sealed container and cover the top of the ice cream with waxed or greaseproof paper. Transfer to the freezer until needed. For the sherbet, rinse and dry the sorrel leaves, remove the stalks then put with all the other ingredients in a blender.

If you have time, transfer the mix to a covered container in the fridge for a couple of hours for the flavours to develop.

Churn in an ice-cream machine until firm or follow the still-freezing method. Put in a sealed container and cover the top of the sherbet with waxed or greaseproof paper. Transfer to the freezer until needed.

ROAST RED PEPPER & GOATS' CHEESE ICE CREAM (Serves 40 canapes)

INGREDIENTS 250g red peppers; 375ml whole milk; 115g caster sugar; 100g goats' cheese; 100g low-fat cream cheese; 1tsp fresh lemon juice METHOD Pre-heat the oven to 180C. Wash the red peppers, put them in an ovenproof dish and roast them until they collapse (about an hour). Allow to cool.

Once cool enough to handle, remove and discard the skins and the seeds, as well as any juice. Roughly chop or tear. Heat the milk and sugar in a pan to just below boiling point.

Cool. Put the milk mix in a blender with the two cheeses and blend. Add the peppers and the lemon juice and blend these too.

Strain. Place the mix in a covered container in the fridge for a couple of hours to allow the flavours to develop.

Churn in an ice-cream machine until firm or follow the still-freezing method.

Put in a sealed container and cover the top of the ice cream with waxed or greaseproof paper. Transfer to the freezer until needed.

PLUM AND EARL GREY TEA ICE CREAM (Serves 4)

INGREDIENTS 6-7 plums or greengages (approx 600g); 100g caster sugar; 1 vanilla pod; 1 Earl Grey tea bag; 75ml whipping cream; 75g Greek yoghurt METHOD Wash the plums, cut in half and put them, skin-side up, in a wide, shallow pan along with 150ml of water, sugar and vanilla pod. Heat to just below boiling point, then reduce the heat, add the Earl Grey tea bag and poach the plums, turning them once, for 15-20 minutes or until they are soft.

Remove and discard the tea bag. Allow to cool. Remove the stones from the plums and discard the vanilla pod (or reserve for some other use).

Put the plums and their syrup into a blender and puree, then add the cream and the yoghurt.

Strain, then churn in an ice-cream machine till firm or use the still-freezing method. Put the ice cream in a sealed container and cover the top with waxed or greaseproof paper.

Transfer to the freezer until needed.

Lola's Ice Creams and * Sundaes by Morfudd Richards is published by Ebury Press, priced pounds 20. Available now.

CAPTION(S):

Plum and Early Greay Tea Ice Cream (left), Roast Red Pepper & Goats' Cheese Ice Cream (centre), Crab Ice Cream with Sorrel Sherbert (right). Vantastic: Lola's Ice Creams and Sundaes are a gourmet treat.