Creamy Basil Ice Cream – just like in Italy
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This creamy Basil Ice Cream takes me straight back to Italy! There’s something magical about the combination of cream, basil and this hint of lemon that will make you fall in love with this unusual ice cream flavor!
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I’m back from Italy – with a super special basil gelato recipe!
Hey, guys! So it’s been a bit quiet on the blog, which has a lot to do with us just having returned from an epic 2-month Europe trip! As you can imagine, there were quite a lot of bills to pay, doctor’s appointments to finally make, loose ends to tie up….We pretty much spent 2 weeks just puttering around.
With reality hitting that hard, we like to once in a while just take a minute and think back to the wonderful things we’ve seen …and most of all, the stuff we have eaten.
The one dish that I fell for the hardest, was actually a gelato flavor, that I have never had before. We spent about a week in the beautiful coastal villages of Cinque Terre, in Liguria and it was in the little magical village of Corniglia, where we discovered the delicacy that is Basil Ice Cream!
Basil and lemon – the winning flavor combination for the most refreshing ice cream ever!
Basil is kind of a big thing in Liguria, where it finds perfect growing conditions! Yes, you guessed it -, this is also the province where the famous Pesto Genovese comes from! Another thing you’ll see a lot of are lemon trees! At a little gelato stand, we fell in love with the specialità della casa, the Basil Ice Cream with Lemon! I made a mental note to try and reproduce this delightfully unusual ice cream as soon as we get home.
Rub the grated lemon zest into the sugar for extra lemon aroma!
I found a really great looking recipe for basil ice cream in one of my go-to book when it comes to ice cream: The Perfect Scoop
by David Lebowitz! I cannot recommend this book enough! I did make some changes to the recipe though, like rubbing the lemon zest right into the sugar instead of just adding the zest to the ice cream base. I find the lemon flavor spreads more evenly that way.
Easy to make and soooo delicious! Try my Creamy Basil Gelato this summer!
Cream, Basil, Lemon…I tell you, this Basil Ice Cream is a MUST TRY! The slight hint of lemon you get right in the end is just perfect. It somehow brightens the basil ice cream without dominating the flavor profile.
The recipe for this creamy Basil Ice Cream is quite easy and you only need about a handful of ingredients! Note that this ice cream recipe uses egg yolks to get the perfect melt-in-your-mouth texture.
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A note about affiliate links in this post: some of these links will take you to Amazon where I may receive a small percentage of sales, at no extra cost to you.
Creamy Basil Ice Cream | Italian Gelato Recipe
This creamy Basil Ice Cream takes me straight back to Italy! There's something magical about the combination of cream, basil and this hint of lemon! You will love this unusual ice cream flavor!
Ingredients
- 150 g sugar
- 1 lemon
- 25 to 30 g basil leaves
- 500 ml cream
- 250 ml full fat milk
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 5 large egg yolks
Instructions
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Measure out the sugar. Zest lemon directly into the sugar and rub everything together for about a minute or so, until the sugar gets fragrant.
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Use a food processor to grind the basil leaves with the lemon sugar and one cup of the heavy cream, until the leaves are ground as fine as possible. Be careful not to whip the cream already. Feel free to pre-grind the basil with a bit of the milk from the recipe before adding the cream. Pour half of the mixture through a strainer into a large bowl. Add the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream.
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Heat the other half of the basil lemon puree in a saucepan along with the whole milk and salt over medium heat. In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. When the basil mixture is steaming, slowly pour into the egg yolks while whisking constantly. Return the mixture back into the saucepan.
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Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about five minutes. Pour the custard through the strainer into the bowl with the cream mixture. Cool custard over an ice bath while stirring.
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Chill completely, then freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Let harden in the freezer for a few hours before serving.
Like my recipe for Lemon- Kissed Basil Ice Cream? Pin it!
Hmmm das klingt ja abgefahren lecker <3
Danke für die Inspiration!
Gruß scrapkat
Liebe Kiki, das sieht ja so lecker aus, allein schon die Farbe ist ein Traum. Ich liebe Basilikum sehr und habe auch schon damit süss gebacken, es passt wunderbar. Hab vielen Dank für deinen Beitrag , liebe Grüsse Birgit
2 months Europe trip sounds really good! It is a perfect time to forget about cooking and explore all the new flavors from European cuisine) Love your recipe and definitely will try it!
Basil icecream sounds divine! I love interesting flavors like this, in an old favorite dessert. so refreshing, so yummy!!
I have never tried basil ice cream. In fact, I have never tried basil in a sweet dish. What an interesting recipe, and I can totally see why this is eaten in Italy….one place I would visit!!
Ohhh, I love basil! Family doesn’t so much, but that means that this could just be all mine! Yum, yum!
Love this..I love homemade icecream but have never tried herbs in icecream.. I love the colour it looks amazing
I must try this recipe. It is the most interesting recipe I have seen in a while. Love those flavors and cannot wait to try it. I bet it is so refreshing.
Wow this ice cream looks delightful the basil ? makes it really inetetesting i wish I could try it now yummy
This is really unique ice cream. I have seen recipes with strawberries and basil but with lemon basil is first time. Love this need to try it.
Glaube das könnte auch mein Lieblingseis werden! Habe schon einige Eisrezepte ausprobiert, aber bis jetzt war es leider immer ziemlich hart….bin mal gespannt.
Lg Dagmar
Das hört sich lecker an. Kann man das auch mit Basilikum-Sirup herstellen, anstelle frischem Basilikum?
Vielen Dank für dieses Rezept. Cremig, Luftig, Pfeffrig nach Basilikum und nicht zu süß.
Ich habe in einem Wasserbad erhitzt so ist das Risiko geringer das es gerinnt. Hast du vielleicht noch ein Rezept für eine “Beilage”? Nur Erdbeeren finde ich zu so einem super Eis fast zu langweilig
Hi, you only mention 1 lemon in your recipe, but adding zest in 2 plaves (with sugar at start and then at end over finished custard)…is that actually 2 lemons then? And dont you use the juice of the lemon anywhere? Ive made it and it tastes wonderful but wondering if adding some juice will add more zing? I will have to wait for it to finish churning to finalise the verdict! Very excited though, smells and looks amqzing! Thank you!
I made this last weekend when having another couple over for dinner. Like us, they are foodies and love making and trying new recipes as well as accomplished home cooks. Wow, was this a hit!! Delicious. Then I served it to our son and 21 year old grandson on July 4th. I held my breath, but both guys loved it
I LOVED this recipe. Definitely one of the top ten delicious things I’ve ever made. I followed this recipe exactly until the end, when instructed to “Cool custard over an ice bath while stirring. Chill completely, then freeze in an ice cream machine ” At that point I poured it into a large ziplock bag and put it in the freezer. After freezing for a day. I took the flattened block out and cut it into ~2.5″ large chunks . I put the chunks into Vitamixer on high speed and used the tamper to force the mixture down, I used the tamper to keep plunging until the mixture was smooth. It took about 60-90 seconds. I found the Vitamix ice cream directions on The Chopping Block at https://www.thechoppingblock.com/blog/homemade-ice-cream-in-a-vitamix?fbclid=IwAR0mpN3FaFaoDZ9TR5Fa2Ra7qUBong-SJScl1KTWISSNPC2JhKuZZCc6HLw
My husband loved this, he’s a major fan of lemon ice cream. I made it with fresh basil from my garden. I used a scale to measure carefully because it is in metric not american measurements, and it worked very well. Straining it was a bit messy, because I tried to use cheese cloth; the sieve really did work better, so i’ll just use that next time.
I know this is an old post, but I just came across it. I’ve also had the pleasure of trying an amazing basil ice cream while visiting Italy and am longing for more! Gonna give this recipe a shot!
This gelato is amazing – both lemony and basil flavored at the same time. the best way to use up all that basil at the end of the summer. Wonderful texture – I used 2 whole eggs instead the 5 egg yolks the second time I made it and it was great. It thickens very quickly on the stove once the eggs or yolks are added so be careful! Delicious with a blueberry crumble.
Delicious ice cream, very savoury. Didn’t find I could taste the lemon even with rubbing it into the sugar.
I didn’t use a machine but it still turned out well, will definitely use again.