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Basil Ice Cream with Tomato Jam

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I must thank my nephew Joseph and his new bride Melanie for this recipe; if their lovely wedding luncheon had not included a beautiful dessert of basil whipped cream over blackberries, I would never have thought of it.

I’m not entirely sure which component I decided to make first, but once I thought of the pairing I had to try it. The combination of tomatoes and basil is so classic, but the thought of pairing them in a sweet instead of a savory dish was new to me.

The results are stunning. Beautiful, to begin with: The glossy crimson jam contrasts stunningly with the pale green ice cream. The basil flavor of the ice cream is pronounced, and is just as lovely paired with the tangy-sweet, slightly spicy tomato jam as the two would be on a salad plate.

Neither the ice cream nor the jam is difficult to make. The jam, in particular, is simple: Dump ingredients in pot, let simmer while you do other things, then come back and discover its gorgeous ruby-redness waiting for you. The ice cream is slightly fussy, with several steps, but not at all difficult. Plan ahead; the custard needs to chill for several hours before freezing.

Please see the previous entry for the tomato jam recipe.

Basil Ice Cream
adapted from Southern Living magazine
1 cup milk
1/2 cup washed, loosely packed whole basil leaves
1 cup heavy (whipping) cream
1/2 cup sugar, divided
3 egg yolks
Warm the milk in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until bubbly. Turn off heat and stir in basil leaves; steep 20 minutes.
Heat the whipping cream and 1/4 cup sugar in a heavy saucepan, stirring often, until sugar dissolves and mixture bubbles. Remove from heat.
Pour basil mixture into a blender and process until smooth. Press through a sieve into the cream mixture. (For a much more subtle basil flavor, skip the blending, pick the basil leaves out of the milk, and combine with the cream mixture.)
Beat the egg yolks together with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar until thick and lightened in color. (You can do this with an electric mixer or a hand whisk; I used an electric mini-chopper.) Gradually stir about 1/4 of hot milk mixture into yolks, then stir the yolk mixture into the remaining milk mixture. Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring constantly, 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly. Place in refrigerator and chill 4 hours.
Freeze in ice-cream freezer according to manufacturer’s instructions. Remove to lidded container and let harden in freezer 30 minutes or so before eating. (If you skip this last step, your ice cream will be all melty, like mine is in the picture at top.) Serves 6.

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Comments

  2. Hooray–you’re back! Perfect timing, too. I’ve been wanting to make a thai basil ice cream but hadn’t bothered to figure out the details. I’m just going to steal your recipe and sub in the thai basil.

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