Posts Tagged ‘ice cream’

Sweet Basil Ice Cream

July 12th, 2012
12 Comments

It looks like Chris will be taking the kids to a family reunion this weekend, leaving me alone to work on setting up the house. I’m bummed to be missing out on the reunion because I would like to get to know Chris’s extended family better, but I can’t hide my excitement to get serious junk done without any distractions. I’m hoping to get some painting, sewing and photography done this weekend. I have a bunch of tutorials I’d like to share with you once everything is all set up.

I did take the time yesterday to make something fun: Sweet Basil Ice Cream. Last year some time, I went to Vinto (you must go there if you’re in SLC) and ordered a gelato sampler plate. On it was a sweet basil gelato that I’ve not been able to get over, it was that good. I used the first recipe that came up on Epicurious. I always look there first for recipes. Pinterest second. Where do you usually find your favorite recipes?

Unfortunately I hadn’t frozen the bowl, so I had to wait for what seemed like an eternity for the bowl to freeze.

This recipe is delicious. I may have used more basil than it called for, but it’s so good. The strong flavor makes it so you really don’t need to eat a whole lot before you’re satisfied. See the recipe with my notes below.

Sweet Basil Ice Cream

Gourmet 2004, via Epicurious

  • 2 cups whole milk
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh basil (coursely chopped)
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 4 large egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup well-chilled heavy cream (I would use 3/4 cup cream)

In a 2-quart heavy saucepan bring milk, basil, 1/4 cup sugar, and a pinch of salt to a boil, 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. It’ll be frothy!

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. Be sure to use only a wooden spoon and to watch the mixture carefully. If you have a frothy mixture, you could have boiling below and not see it until it’s too late.

Stir in cream and freeze in ice cream maker. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden, at least 2 hours. It’s fantastic fresh, but letting the ice cream mature is good, too. Especially if you plan on having leftovers. 

I”ll be making this recipe again, but I’ll definitely be adding more cream to smooth out the basil flavor a bit more. I think I’ll also add some lemon extract for a Lemon Basil surprise. This would be so good with graham crackers and a salted chocolate sauce!

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Molasses Ice Cream

June 13th, 2011
17 Comments

We had some friends over on Saturday & while the kiddies were playing with playdough, one of them asked for ice cream. I remembered that I had heavy cream on hand, so I thought I’d whip up a batch. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find my ice cream recipe book. Before I looked up a recipe online, my friend told me that she had a recipe that would be great. The recipe called for 1/4 cup of maple syrup – which I didn’t have – so I ended up with this happy little discovery:

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Molasses Cookie Ice Cream!

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I used molasses instead of maple syrup. Since the ice cream doesn’t call for much sugar at all, it’s not incredibly sweet. Which I like. But to add a little bit more sweetness & depth to the simple ice cream, I rolled each scoop in ginger, cinnamon & sugar. Oh, it’s good. It’s the perfect amount of sweet. This particular recipe (probably because of the 2 cups of cream it calls for) sets up really well in the ice cream maker.

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• MOLASSES COOKIE ICE CREAM •

  • 2 egg yolks
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • 1/4 cup molasses
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream

Mix the egg yolks, sugar, vanilla and molasses well. Add the milk and blend well. Stir the cream just until blended. Pour into ice cream maker! Once it’s just about set, put ice cream in the freezer to finish setting up– about 2-3 hours. Scoop balls of ice cream onto a cookie tray & put them back into the freezer for a couple minutes. Add cinnamon, sugar & ginger (to taste) into a bowl. Remove ice cream scoops from freezer & roll in sugar mixture. Serve. Makes about 18 scoops. (adapted from this recipe)

Now that it’s finally warming up, I’m going to be making ice cream & granitas quite often. Growing up, we made it a tradition to make ice cream often during the summer. My favorite was making blackberry sorbet out of the fresh berries from my mom’s incredible garden. Do you make home made ice cream?

January DB: Light and Easy Tuiles

January 31st, 2009
2 Comments

Compared to last month, this month’s DBers challenge was a breeze. Hands down I will be making these again. Possibly in cigar format with mousse in the middle.

MmmMMmm

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I made these tuiles for some friends and tried my hand at making a sweet little star cup. While the plastic placemat worked perfectly as a pattern, the original star pattern I made was just a little too detailed for the recipe. Now I know what to do next time. Not only was the tuile just downright tasty, the ice cream complimented it nicely.

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Tuile Recipe:

Yields: 20 small butterflies/6 large (butterflies are just an example)
Preparation time batter 10 minutes, waiting time 30 minutes, baking time: 5-10 minutes per batch

¼ cup softened butter (not melted but soft)
½ cup sifted confectioner’s sugar
1 sachet vanilla sugar (7 grams or substitute with a dash of vanilla extract)
2 large egg whites (slightly whisked with a fork)
 1/2 cup sifted all purpose flour
1 table spoon cocoa powder/or food coloring of choice
Butter/spray to grease baking sheet

Oven: 350ºF

Using a hand whisk or a stand mixer fitted with the paddle (low speed) and cream butter, sugar and vanilla to a paste. Keep stirring while you gradually add the egg whites. Continue to add the flour in small batches and stir to achieve a homogeneous and smooth batter/paste. Be careful to not overmix.
Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes to firm up. (This batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week, take it out 30 minutes before you plan to use it).

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or grease with either butter/spray and chill in the fridge for at least 15 minutes. This will help spread the batter more easily if using a stencil/cardboard template such as the butterfly. Press the stencil on the bakingsheet and use an off sided spatula to spread batter. Leave some room in between your shapes. Mix a small part of the batter with the cocoa and a few drops of warm water until evenly colored. Use this colored batter in a paper piping bag and proceed to pipe decorations on the wings and body of the butterfly.

Bake butterflies in a preheated oven (350ºF) for about 5-10 minutes or until the edges turn golden brown. Immediately release from bakingsheet and proceed to shape/bend the cookies in the desired shape. These cookies have to be shaped when still warm, you might want to bake a small amount at a time or maybe put them in the oven to warm them up again. (Haven’t tried that). Or: place a bakingsheet toward the front of the warm oven, leaving the door half open. The warmth will keep the cookies malleable.

If you don’t want to do stencil shapes, you might want to transfer the batter into a piping bag fitted with a small plain tip. Pipe the desired shapes and bake. Shape immediately after baking using for instance a rolling pin, a broom handle, cups, cones….

This month’s challenge is brought to us by Karen of Bake My Day and Zorra of 1x umruehren bitte aka Kochtopf. They have chosen Tuiles from The Chocolate Book by Angélique Schmeink and Nougatine and Chocolate Tuiles from Michel Roux.
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