Basil Ice Cream With Chocolate Chunks

Never before have I made more ice cream in my life than I did this summer. It's all because I found a steal of a deal on a Cuisinart ice cream machine at a garage sale earlier this spring. I cannot speak highly enough about this little machine. If you’re still using a machine (electric or hand crank) that requires rock salt and bags of ice, you’re either someone's grandma or insane.

I posted a handful of the yummier ice cream varieties I made, and then put a stop to the ice cream posts to spare you from boredom, and a stop to the ice cream making (for the most part) to spare me the pounds.

I have to get one last post in (no promises). How could I not? I made this ice cream four times this summer!

This ice cream is basil ice cream with dark chocolate chunks. For now, basil ice cream has surpassed green tea as my favorite ice cream flavor. That’s saying a lot. Last year I was hoarding green tea ice cream from Trader Joe’s so that no one else could have any.

The sweet cream is the blank canvas for the sublimely herbal flavor (like a bag of weed cut with basil), and the dark chocolate chips playfully distract with a bitter crunch. The first bite is the one that hits hard, as tasters unknowing of the ingredients try to figure out just what flavor the ice cream is. It’s good. You know you like it. You can’t stop. What is it? It’s the best ice cream flavor... ever!

FYI, don’t try this with yogurt. I did, and it’s not good. I’m convinced that homemade frozen yogurt’s tang can only stand up to fruit flavors.

Basil Ice Cream With Chocolate Chunks
Adapted from this recipe over at Apartment Therapy

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1 can evaporated milk (Use any percentage regular milk if you like. I just can’t use a whole carton of milk before it goes bad, so use canned milk.)
1/2 cup sugar
2 big handfuls of basil leaves, coarsely chopped
3 egg yolks
3/4 cup dark chocolate, finely chopped

• Put cream, milk, sugar, and basil into a sauce pan, and scald over medium-high heat. Remove from heat and let sit for 20-30 minutes to cool a bit and infuse the cream with the basil.
• Strain cream to remove the basil.
• Beat the eggs in a separate bowl, then slowly temper half of the mixture into the eggs, stirring constantly.
• Add the egg/cream mixture and the other half of the cream mixture together in a pan over medium heat. Stir constantly for 5 minutes. (The mixture will not thicken much, but that’s because I didn’t use 6 or 7 egg yolks. Don’t worry; the end result will be rich and creamy.)
• Let cool, and add to the ice cream maker. Towards the end of churning add the chocolate.
• Store in a container in the freezer overnight for the best texture before serving.