Basil ice cream with macerated strawberries

By polloazul

Ingredients

• for the macerated strawberries:
• 4 cups (1L) of milk
• 2 generous handful of basil (approx. 3 packed cups)
• 1 cup (200g) of sugar
• 10 egg yolks (200g)
• pinch of salt
• 4 punnets of flavourful strawberries (preferably organic)
• 2 tbsp good quality balsamic vinegar
• large pinch of sugar, to taste

Details

Servings 8

Preparation

Step 1

the ice cream

1. Pick through the basil and set aside several of the smaller leaves for decoration. Roughly chop the remaining basil (if you would like specks of the herb throughout your ice cream, separate a little basil and chop finely to be added later).
2. Bring the milk to the boil in a medium saucepan with a large pinch of sugar and a pinch of salt (the sugar helps prevent the milk from scalding). Add the chopped basil, turn the heat off and let the milk stand for an hour to infuse the flavour.
3. Strain the milk through a fine-mesh sieve, using a spatula or clean hands to press through as much of the colour and flavour as possible. Discard the basil from the sieve.
4. Prepare a fine sieve set over a large bowl in an ice bath (i.e. a tray or larger bowl filled with ice and a little cold water).
5. Return the milk to the saucepan and gently rewarm.
6. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the cup of sugar until they turn a thick buttery colour (this can take up to five minutes - be careful not to let the sugar sit on the egg yolks until you are ready to start as this will harden the yolks).
7. When your milk has come to a gentle simmer, pour a little on top of the whipped yolks to temper the mixture, whisking constantly.
8. Pour the tempered yolks into the saucepan with the remaining milk and stir constantly over a gentle heat with a spatula until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spatula (if using a thermometer, it should read around 77ºC/ 170ºF).
9. Immediately strain the mixture into the prepared bowl, then stir over the ice bath until cool.
10. Refrigerate the mixture thoroughly, preferably overnight (this "ages" the ice cream base, allowing the mixture to stabilise and the flavour to improve).
11. Freeze the base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

the strawberries

1. Cut the strawberries into quarters, then combine with the balsamic vinegar and pinch of sugar in a bowl. Taste and adjust sugar if the strawberries are particularly tart and allow to macerate for an hour.

to serve

1. If the ice cream has hardened in the freezer, place it in the fridge 30 minutes before serving to soften.
2. Fill the bottom of a martini glass with the macerated strawberries and a few of the small basil leaves that were set aside earlier. Repeat for the remaining servings.
3. Use either an ice cream scoop or spoon dipped in hot water to quenelle the basil ice cream on top of the strawberries in the glass. Serve immediately.