A unique basil ice cream recipe featuring fresh basil leaves blended with cream, cooked with milk and egg yolks to create a rich, herbaceous custard, perfect on its own or with blueberry pie.
Blend 1 cup of the heavy cream with your basil leaves. It might turn a grey-ish color and that’s ok, it will brighten up while cooking.
In a medium pot, mix together the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream with 1 cup of milk + about half of our basil cream emulsion. We will add the rest of our basil cream near the end of the cook time so some of it keeps its “fresh” flavor. Cook on low heat for 15 minutes to allow some of the water to steam off, mixing every so often (do not allow it to boil or it could curdle).
Meanwhile, add egg yolks, sugar, and salt to a medium bowl. Whisk until the mixture lightens in color, it should be more of a pale yellow and a little fluffy.
Once the milk mixture has been heating for 15 minutes, it’s time to temper our eggs. Slowly drizzle some of the hot basil milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking quickly. Add about ½ cup of the milk and then slowly pour everything back into the pot with the rest of the milk mixture, while whisking to avoid scrambling the eggs. Continue mixing & add in the rest of the basil cream emulsion, allowing to cook for about 5 more minutes while whisking frequently on medium to medium low heat. You want it to slightly thicken and be able to coat the back of a spoon. If you have a thermometer, bring the temp to about 160*F.
Immediately pour mixture into a wide heat safe bowl. If you’d like, pour it through a fine mesh sieve to strain. Allow to come to room temp before storing in the fridge to cool for at least 4 hours (or up to two days). If you want to speed this up a little bit you can put it in an ice bath and mix.
Churn based on your ice cream maker’s instructions. Eat immediately or freeze for at least 2-4 hours after churning to allow it to set. Enjoy plain, with dark chocolate olive oil shell, or on top of blueberry pie:).
