Sweet Basil Custard Ice Cream
By Joe
Source: NYT Cooking.
French custard with fresh basil blitzed into the sugar and steeped in the dairy instead of vanilla. Herbal, sweet and surprisingly refreshing.
Always check the labels of the products you use.
Method
- 1
Make basil sugar. Blitz the basil leaves with half the sugar until bright green and sandy. The sugar grinds the leaves, releasing their oils quickly.
- 2
Infuse. Warm the cream, milk, basil sugar and salt until steaming, then cover off the heat for 20 min.
- 3
Whisk the yolks. Beat the yolks and the rest of the sugar together in the heatproof bowl.
- 4
Temper. Rewarm the dairy, whisk two ladles into the yolks and pour back into the pan.
- 5
Cook. Cook on low, stirring steadily, to 77-80 °C, when the custard clings to the spatula. Gentle heat keeps the herb flavour fresh.
- 6
Strain and chill. Sieve, pressing on the basil, then cool quickly over the iced water and refrigerate for at least 4 h. Fast cooling helps the base keep its fresh, green taste.
- 7
Churn and freeze. Churn until thick and freeze for at least 4 h.
Storage
Freeze, covered, for up to 1 week; the basil flavour fades after that.
EU nutrition claims
- Low salt: 0.19 g salt per 100 g (limit ≤ 0.3 g)
Per 100 g of the finished dish, worked out from the nutrition per serving and the lowest likely cooked weight (about 95 g a serving), so the true values are, if anything, lower. Thresholds from the Annex to EU Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006. How we decide
Free sugars
16.8 g per serving
33.6 % of the 50 g daily maximum · 67.2 % of the ideal 25 g
Free sugars under 50 g a day, ideally about 25 g, based on WHO free-sugar guidance (not endorsed by WHO). The share shown is the share of one serving. WHO
Equipment
- ice-cream maker
- medium heavy saucepan
- heatproof bowl
- whisk
- silicone spatula
- probe thermometer
- fine sieve
- large bowl of iced water
- freezer container with lid
- food processor or blender
Nutrition per serving Calculated from USDA FoodData Central
| Per serving | Amount |
|---|---|
| Energy | 332 kcal |
| Protein | 4.9 g |
| Carbohydrate | 20.6 g |
| of which sugars | 20.2 g |
| of which free sugars | 16.8 g |
| Fat | 26.3 g |
| of which saturates | 15.7 g |
| Fibre | 0.1 g |
| Salt | 0.18 g |
Protein per 100 kcal
1.5 g High protein needs ≥ 5 g per 100 kcal (20% of energy) and ≥ 10 g per serving
Calculated from USDA FoodData Central ingredient values
