Before this blog was ever created, back when my family lived in Germany, Molly took on a notably major baking project considering our baking prior to that had consisted mainly of banana bread and cookies. They were chocolate mini-cakes with some sort of elaborate basil cream/buttercream and a ganache. I don’t remember the specific name, or even where she found the recipe and got the idea. I believe there was some drama around making them (a first failed attempt), but then she corrected it and they turned out amazing. Like, surprisingly amazing. Not because we doubted her, but because we were all skeptical of the basil and chocolate combination. But however surprising it may be, they are undeniably good together. So good that a few years later, she also made these Basil Chocolate Scones. So since I was recently perusing old scone recipes, and recently came into possession of my own basil plants, it just so happened that when Molly’s birthday rolled around and all she requested was chocolate… my brain went to basil chocolate.
The cake was a chocolate cake with brown sugar soak and a chocolate mascarpone frosting. I got a photo of it before we all dug in, but it was gone before I got some interior photos. I guess I’ll just have to make it again some time to get more photos.
The richness and simplicity of the chocolate cake paired well with the more complex basil flavor, if I do say so myself. I think basil is pretty similar to mint, and we’re all familiar with the mint and chocolate combination. So why not basil? It’s got a certain depth to it, something that you associate with savory until you try it with sugar. Something very familiar, but just weird enough to feel gourmet and fancy. This is a more classic custard-style ice cream as well, which I think adds to the creaminess of it. The basil flavor is light, but backed up by the heartiness of the ice cream.
And of course I had to swirl some leftover chocolate mascarpone into the ice cream, but you can just as easily leave that out, replace it with chocolate chips, or drizzle in any melted chocolate or ganache. But I do think the chocolate pairing rounds it out. Chocolate certainly isn’t going to hurt it.
So just like Molly’s fancy cakes converted me 15 years ago, I think that if this ice cream can convert even one more skeptic to the Basil Chocolate flavor pairing, then I’ll consider it a win.
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PinIngredients
1 cup basil leaves, cleaned and dried
⅔ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
6 large egg yolks
melted chocolate or chocolate chips of your choosing, to mix in
Instructions
- In a food processor, pulse together basil leaves and sugar until pulverized and bright green.
- In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, herb sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream.
- Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer). Remove from heat and allow custard to steep for 30 minutes.
- Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Churn in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- When ice cream is done, transfer to freezer-safe container. Mix in chocolate chips, or swirl in your melted chocolate. Cover with parchment paper to prevent freezer burn, and put in freezer until solid, about 6 hours.
Notes
Adapted from NY Times