Sweet Basil Ice Cream

I love working in an office where people bring in fresh produce from their gardens to share, I get to try things I wouldn't normally buy! This week I got a couple varieties of basil (cinnamon, lemon) and some mint (chocolate) which I decided to incorporate into ice cream! Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams book to the rescue!

I've found Jeni's ice creams to be the best homemade recipes I've had, sweet and creamy and oh so scoopable. I've seriously stopped turning elsewhere and will instead try to adapt other recipes to her general ice cream base. I made a couple tweaks to her Sweet Basil & Honeyed Pine Nut Ice Cream from the book, even making it with chocolate mint instead of basil here. With that said, I think any variety of basil would be lovely to change up the flavor and mint would be equally fantastic.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream

Adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 C milk, 2 tbsp reserved
• 3 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 1/2 oz. cream cheese, softened
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 C cream
• 2 tbsp light corn syrup
• 1/2 C sugar
• 1/2 C basil or mint leaves, torn

Method

1. In a small bowl, combine 2 tbsp milk with the cornstarch. In a large bowl, combine the cream cheese and salt.
2. Combine the rest of the milk, cream, corn syrup, and sugar in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Bring to a full boil and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and add the cornstarch mixture, stirring well.
3. Return to heat, resume boil, and boil for 1 minute, stirring carefully. The mixture will bubble up during this time.
4. Pour the hot mixture over the cream cheese, whisking to incorporate the cream cheese. Add the basil or mint. Pour the mixture into a zip bag and submerge in ice water until cooled completely, about 30 minutes, or cool and refrigerate overnight.
5. Strain out the basil/mint and pour into an ice cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions.

This ice cream is light and not overly sweet. The flavor of the herb comes through subtly and goes well with the sweet cream flavor, making a great summer dessert.

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