Baking with Basil

I am ecstatic to announce my first guest blogger on Baking with Basil!   I was thrilled when Melissa from The FauxMartha volunteered to help me out.  Thanks to an awesome co-worker, I discovered Melissa’s blog only a few short months ago.  She is the sweetest person and somehow always seems to post something that I have recently been craving. When she told me what she was going to be making, I couldn’t wait for the recipe. Especially since my basil plant is begging for a trim.  Enjoy!

But with great risk comes great reward. While the thought of basil in your ice cream is a little strange, the flavor is phenomenal! And its counterpart, the delicate lemon wafer cookie, makes it even better. Speaking of the lemon cookies, I sent my husband to Whole Foods to find something I had dreamed up in my head—thin, light, lemony, almost cracker like. Miracles do happen; he found exactly what I was looking for. I envisioned this ice cream tasting like a sweet lemon basil cookie I once had. It was a dream come true.

Let’s be honest though, I was a little nervous while concocting this ice cream. There was more room for error than I’m comfortable with. On a normal day, I’m just classic—completely content with plain ole vanilla ice cream. But every now and then, I need to step out of my comfort zone. Because with great risk comes great reward.

(Printable Recipe)

Basil Ice Cream 

recipe from The Fauxmartha, makes 1 1/2 quarts

1. In a blender, puree milk and basil leaves.

2. In a heavy bottomed sauce pan, combine milk puree, half and half, heavy cream, 1 cup of sugar, and salt. Whisk to combine. Give it a little taste to make sure you have enough salt.

3. In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and 1/4 cup of sugar.

4. Over medium-high heat, heat milk mixture until sugar dissolves and begins to simmer. Slowly pour about one cup of the simmering milk mixture into the egg mixture, whisking constantly to temper the eggs (a.k.a. cook the eggs without scrambling them). Add egg mixture to sauce pan, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes. Turn heat off. Add vanilla extract.

5. Pour mixture in a large bowl. Cover and place in fridge to cool, about 3 hours. To speed up the cooling process, place bowl in an ice bath in the fridge, or place in the freezer sans ice bath.

6. Once mixture is cold, make ice cream according to your machine’s instructions.

7. Serve with a lemon wafer cookie (purchase at Whole Foods) and a sprig of basil if you wish.