A Cool & Tasty Treat: Basil Ice Cream

For the fourth we grilled burgers and I made potato salad and peach/tomato gazpacho. I’ll post the gazpacho tomorrow. But today? It’s the ice cream.

I picked some basil from the garden and whipped a batch up. The basil flavor is very subtle so I also added a bit of vanilla. The steeping and the blending gives it a pretty, pale green color. The end result is an ice cream that was really pretty good!

I forgot to make it the night before, my typical practice, so I stored the pre-frozen custard in the freezer for about 45 minutes to chill it enough to load in my ice cream maker.

Basil Ice Cream
Recipe from Gourmet magazine
2 cups whole milk
3 tbsp chopped fresh basil
1/2 cup sugar
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream
1/2 tsp vanilla

Bring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil in a heavy saucepan, stirring, then remove from heat and let steep 30 minutes.

Transfer to a blender (reserve saucepan) and blend until basil is finely ground, about 1 minute.

Beat together yolks and remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a medium bowl with an electric mixer until thick and pale, about 1 minute. Add milk mixture in a stream, beating until combined well.

Pour mixture into reserved saucepan and cook over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture coats back of spoon and registers 175°F on thermometer (do
not let boil).

Immediately remove from heat and pour through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. Set bowl in a larger bowl of ice water and stir until cold, 10 to 15 minutes. Alternately, make the night before and store in the refrigerator overnight. It’ll be well-chilled when you are ready to make the ice cream.

Stir in cream and vanilla and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours.