Recipe 2: Cinnamon-Basil Ice Cream

Sunday, January 11, 2015

            This week I chose a recipe from the book Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts by Peggy Fallon: Cinnamon-Basil Ice Cream.  The book itself is a fun read and contains a plethora of ice creams, sorbets, and desserts to choose from, including soy-based desserts, Rainbow Ice Cream and Sorbet Torte, Ice Cream Spaghetti, and Ice Cream Fairy Cakes.  Ms. Fallon does a good job of presenting easy-to-read recipes and has a very readable writing style.  However, the book isn’t necessarily written for beginners and doesn’t tell you much detailed information like how to keep your eggs from curdling or how to fix small beginners’ mistakes.  For things like that, you’ll have to do a bit of Internet detective work.  Nevertheless, I’m looking forward to using Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts for several recipes; the Cinnamon-Basil Ice Cream was delicious and a surprising hit.

            This recipe was my first attempt at making a custard, and I experienced some trouble – nothing that ruined the recipe/taste/texture but enough to fluster me, so I’ve got a few tips for everyone out there.

            The first is to monitor how much basil you use.  The original recipe calls for 25 grams of basil (or 1 oz); I used 18 grams/.66 oz and found the taste overpowering.  My sister loved it, but I had a hard time tasting the cinnamon beneath it and have been reluctant to eat a lot of it.  So be warned: steeped basil packs a powerful punch (But, hey, if you like that sort of thing, go for it.).

            The second tip is to watch your custard mixture while cooking it; I very nearly curdled the eggs.  As you’ll see in the recipe, you’re supposed to heat the egg yolk/sugar/cinnamon-basil milk mixture on the stove and stir it until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.  You’ll know your eggs have curdled because you’ll start to get small chunks in the mixture, like very fine curds.  If that happens, remove the mixture from the heat and beat it swiftly until the bits even out – this will take a few minutes.  That saved the custard, but I’ve also heard that you can pop the mixture into an immersion blender to smooth it out again – and that a little bit of curdling is inevitable in handmade ice cream.  Finally, I found a few different ways to make custard that should prevent curdling.  You can read all these tips and tricks here to figure out what works best for you.  I plan on trying some of these tips in the future, and I’ll be sure to let you know what works for me.

           

            The third tip is that this isn’t really a same-day kind of recipe.  Unless you’re making it early in the morning, you’re not going to be able to eat it same day.  The reason for this is that custard needs to get really, really cold before you put it in your ice cream maker; the colder the custard base, the smaller the ice crystals and the smoother/creamier the texture.  The original recipe didn’t tell me that either so I was a little bit disappointed.

            A final tip is that, apparently, you’re supposed to use whole milk when making ice cream.  Anything less might melt too easily or end up containing too many ice crystals when churning, resulting in a weird texture.  I didn’t see that before making this recipe and ended up using 2% milk.  However, I don’t think the 2% adversely affected the taste or texture.  My cinnamon-basil ice cream ended up super creamy, possibly the best texture of any ice cream I’ve made thus far (which, to be far, is only four but there ya go).  When I remake this recipe, I plan on using whole milk (and half the basil).

 

            Below is the recipe, but I’ve also found an online copy, which you can look up here.

Ingredients

• 2 ½ cups whole milk (2% will work)
• 9 – 18 oz of fresh basil, well-rinsed (use to taste; basil is powerful)
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 8 egg yolks
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• Optional: 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

1.  Bring the milk to a simmer in a heavy medium saucepan over medium heat.  Add the basil and cinnamon stick, cover, and remove from the heat.  Let steep for 15 minutes then strain through a sieve, pressing down on the basil to extract all liquid.  Warning: basil will be strong.
2. Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar in a large mixing bowl.  Slowly whisk in the cinnamon-basil flavored milk.  Return to the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula or wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.  If you have a cooking thermometer, try to get the temperature to 170 to 175 degrees F (75 to 80 degrees C).  Do not let boil, or the egg yolks will curdle.
3. If the eggs do begin to curdle (you will have fine chunks in the mixture), remove immediately from heat and beat with a whisk until the custard can coat the back of a spoon.  A little bit of curdling is okay.
4. Immediately pour the custard back into the mixing bowl and let cool, either over a larger bowl of ice with a little water or in the refrigerator until the custard is very cold.  The refrigerator method will take approximately 24 hours, but the bowl method may only take an hour.
5. Remove custard from refrigerator and whisk in heavy cream.  If you want, add in the extra teaspoon of ground cinnamon for greater cinnamon flavor and to have small speckles in your ice cream.
6. Pour the base into the canister of an ice cream maker and freeze according to directions (will take approximately 30 minutes).  Transfer the ice cream to a covered container and freeze until it is firm enough to scoop, at least 3 hours but preferably overnight. 

Making a custard is a little bit stressful, but I think it’s one of those things that once you practice it a few times you’ll get the hang of it.  It mostly just requires using good ingredients, taking your time, and watching it like a hawk.  It’s definitely not one of those things that you can just do in thirty minutes.

However, like I said, the recipe had a good flavor and excellent texture.  The taste is a little bit weird (It literally tastes like a big ole bowl of basil), but it’s one of those weirds that you really like.  I personally wanted less basil and more cinnamon so a good way to offset it was adding a healthy sprinkle of cinnamon on top.  It looks pretty and tastes great.

Overview

• Mixture prep time: 1 hour, not including chilling
• Mixture chill time: 24 hours (approximately) in the fridge
• Ice cream set time: at least 3 hours, preferably 24
• Taste: a little weird but complex and creamy – great with extra cinnamon, whipped cream, and gingersnap cookies (pairs well with others)
• Difficulty level: medium
• Expense level: low to medium, depending on what ingredients you already have