Put the milk and cream in a pan, stir in the vanilla pod and seeds and bring to the boil.

Beat the egg yolks and egg together with the syrup in a bowl until pale and creamy. Stir in the boiling milk and return the mixture to the pan, fishing out the vanilla pod. Stir over a low heat using a wooden spatula until the cream starts to become thick (soft and thickened but not set). It must not boil. Strain the custard through a sieve and leave to cool over iced water, stirring.

Divide the mixture between 4 individual ice cream moulds and leave to freeze in the freezer compartment for around 1 hour. Insert a stick of liquorice into each ice cream and leave to freeze completely, for at least another 3 hours.