Recipe from Diana Henry
Basil, which is sweet and has cinnamon notes, is very good with strawberries. You need
to use sweet,
ripe berries
for this
550g ripe, sweet strawberries, hulled and sliced
130g caster sugar
300ml double cream
200ml milk
2 broad strips of
lemon zest
20g basil leaves
3 large egg yolks
3 tbsp white balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp lemon juice
(add to taste)
Put the strawberries and 20g of the caster sugar into a bowl, cover and leave to macerate overnight in the fridge.
You can make the custard to chill overnight too, or on the day you make the ice cream. Place the cream and milk in a saucepan then add the lemon zest and basil leaves. Heat to just under boiling, then remove from the heat and leave the basil and lemon to infuse for about 90 minutes. Strain the mixture, pressing the basil to make sure you extract its flavor.
Put water into a basin, or into your kitchen sink, and set a large bowl in it. If you have ice, throw some into the water.
Beat the yolks and the remaining sugar until thick and pale, either in a food mixer or using an electric hand mixer. Add the infused cream and milk, whisking all the time, to the beaten yolks, then transfer this to a clean saucepan.
Set over a very low heat and heat gently, stirring all the time. You have to cook the custard but you must not let it boil or the eggs will scramble. You can use a sugar thermometer to help you. When it reaches 82C, pull the saucepan off the heat and immediately pour the custard into the bowl sitting in the iced water.
If you don’t have a thermometer you should be able to see that the custard has thickened. When you drag your index finger through the custard on the back of your wooden spoon it should leave a clear channel. Leave the custard to cool, stirring from time to time, then cover and chill in the fridge.
The next day, blend the strawberries with the balsamic vinegar until the mixture is really smooth. Add it to the custard then taste to see how much lemon juice you need to add. Lemon juice makes the ice cream ‘sing’ but if you add too much you can overwhelm the basil flavor.
Churn in an ice-cream machine. If you don’t have a machine transfer the ice cream to a container that will fit in your freezer and cover it. Churn it, either by beating it with an electric whisk or by throwing it into a food processor and whizzing the mixture, about three times during the freezing process. Do this first after about 90 minutes, when the ice cream is setting around the edges.
This ice cream can set quite hard, so take it out of the freezer about 10 minutes before you want to serve it.