Yes, we know, this sounds very strange but it is both delicious and refreshing, with a rich, creamy, almost savoury taste. In Kyoto we had tofu ice cream topping a yuzu gelato, so we thought why not combine them? For a vegan alternative you could try replacing the cream with 200ml almond milk and 2 tablespoons of coconut oil or cashew cream. Yuzu is available at Wing Yip and the Japan Centre. Silken tofu is the very smooth, soft delicately flavoured wobbly tofu that you find in fridges in health food shops and supermarkets. Cauldron foods make a good version.

200ml double cream

1 large vanilla pod or ½ a large vanilla pod and ¼ tspn vanilla bean paste

200g fresh silken tofu, mashed with a fork

zest of a large lemon, plus juice of half of it

50g caster sugar

4 tsps yuzu

• Put the double cream in a small saucepan along with the lemon zest. Cut the vanilla pod open and scrape out the seeds into the cream and add the remaining pod. Heat gently until nearly boiling then remove from the heat and stir in the sugar. Allow to steep for at least 20 minutes

• Remove the vanilla pod, then ttir in the silken tofu and blitz with a blender. Now slowly add the lemon and yuzu juice – the latter is far stronger in flavour – until you get the required balance of sweet and sour

• Pour into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen – it takes less time than usual to freeze. Alternatively place into a shallow freezer container and stir half way through