For the Fresh Mint Ice-cream, put the sugar, milk powder and milk in a heavy and thick-bottomed pan and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and allow to it to cool a bit. Roughly tear the mint leaves and drop them into the milk. Stir well and keep this aside for about an hour so the mint flavour infuses into the milk.

Now strain the milk into a plastic or metal container (in which you will freeze the ice-cream) and discard the mint leaves. In another pan, put the cream and cornstarch and mix well. Place on the stove and heat the cream, stirring constantly until the cornstarch in it causes the cream to thicken a bit. Take this off the heat.

Add this to the mint flavoured milk and beat well with a whisk or electric mixer. Add the lemon juice and mix again. Allow to cool to room temperature and freeze, taking the ice-cream out every 45 minutes or so and mixing well to break up the ice crystals. Do this about 3 to 4 times.

For the Spiced Carrot Ice-cream, adjust the amount of sugar according to the sweetness of your carrots. Keep aside 1 cup of milk.

Put the sugar, milk powder and remaining milk in a heavy and thick-bottomed pan and mix well. Bring to a boil, stirring frequently, and simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Add the cardamom, cinnamon, star anise and cloves to the milk and take the pan off the heat. Stir the milk and keep aside for about 2 hours so the spices infuse into it.

Now strain the milk into a plastic or metal container (in which you will freeze the ice-cream) and discard the spices. In the meanwhile, cook the grated carrots in the reserved 1 cup of milk till really soft. Take off the heat and allow it to cool and then blend this mixture into a smooth puree. Keep aside.

In another pan, put the cream and cornstarch and mix well. Place on the stove and heat the cream, stirring constantly until the cornstarch in it causes the cream to thicken a bit. Take this off the heat.

Add the pureed carrots and the thickened cream to the spice infused milk and beat well with a whisk, electric mixer or in a blender. Freeze the ice-cream, taking it out every 45 minutes or so and mixing well to break up the ice crystals. Do this about 3 to 4 times.

I served the mint ice-cream in chocolate cups. To make chocolate cups melt the equal quantities of semi-sweet and milk chocolate with a little butter. Coat the inside of a few cupcake cases with an even layer of melted chocolate, using a paint brush. Place them in the freezer for about 10 minutes. Once the chocolate has hardened, take them out and paint one more layer of melted chocolate on the inside of each cup. This ensures that your chocolate cups don't break. Place them in freezer for another 10 minutes till the chocolate hardens. Now carefully peel off the cupcake cases. Store the chocolate cups in an airtight container in the refrigerator till needed.

The idea for the spiced carrot ice-cream chocolate sandwiches came from David Lebovitz's detailed post on making Simple, Little Chocolate Ice Cream Sandwiches.

I used the left over melted chocolate from making the above chocolate cups. Place a plastic transparency sheet or a greased sheet of aluminium foil (or parchment paper) on a baking sheet.

Drop about 1/4 tsp melted chocolate on the sheet or greased foil and spread it into a thin even circle, using the back of the spoon. Repeat, for as many chocolate discs as you require. Refrigerate so the chocolate hardens. Peel off the discs carefully (they have a tendency to break) and store in an airtight container in the fridge till needed.

To assemble the sandwich, make small scoops of ice-cream and place them on a chilled plate and freeze. Take them out to soften slightly and sandwich each small scoop between two chocolate discs. Freeze the sandwiches till ready to serve.

I also made candied carrot curls to garnish my spiced carrot ice-cream sandwiches.