Tear the bread into pieces and toast them in a 170C (150C fan)/335F/gas 3½ oven, for 10 or so minutes, until dry and golden brown.

Heat the milk to just below boiling point, then pour over the toasted bread and leave to cool and infuse for two hours.

Strain the infused milk into a bowl.

Whisk the egg yolks and sugar until pale.

Put the infused milk and cream in a saucepan and add the vanilla. Heat the mix until just below boiling, then, whisking constantly, slowly pour into the egg mix.

Sieve the mixture into a clean pan, put this on a very low heat and stir constantly for 10-15 minutes until the mix begins to thicken.

Churn the custard in an ice-cream machine until frozen but smooth.

Meanwhile, poach the fruit by putting the sugar, cinnamon, lemon and a litre of water in a pan and bringing to a boil.

Peel the apples and pears, then drop into the boiling syrup, cover with greaseproof paper and simmer gently until the fruit is just cooked.

Take the ice-cream out of the freezer 10-15 minutes before serving to soften.

Quarter and core the poached fruit, then chop into 1cm pieces.

Put a spoonful of poached fruit in each bowl, top with a large scoop of ice-cream and eat straight away.

For the crumble, put the apples, brown sugar and lemon juice in a pan and cook on a medium heat for about five minutes.

In a bowl, rub together the butter and flour until the mix looks like breadcrumbs, then stir in the caster sugar.

Tip the apple mixture into a baking tin, cover with the crumble mixture, then bake at 190C (170C fan)/375F/gas 5 for 35-40 minutes.

While the crumble is baking, make the custard by whisking the egg yolks and sugar until pale.

Slowly heat the milk and cream in a heavy-based pan, then pour the hot liquid over the egg mix and stir to combine.

Return to the pan and cook, stirring constantly, for about 15 minutes until it thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon.

Off the heat, stir in the whiskey.

To serve, spoon the hot crumble into a bowl and pour over the custard.

For the chocolate and Guinness fondants, brush the insides of six dariole moulds with softened butter.

Melt the butter in a pan, then whisk in the cocoa powder and Guinness.

In a medium bowl, use an electric mixer to beat the sugar, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Sift in the flour and baking powder, fold in gently, then fold in the Guinness mix.

Divide the mix between the moulds, then bake for seven minutes.

Remove, leave to rest for a minute, then run a knife around the edge of each mould and invert on to a plate.