Pear Caramel Ice Cream with Pecan Shortbread Cookies

The hunt for new Christmas cookie recipes has started.   I love giving bags of cookies to friends and family and to make it fun I try new cookies every year.  My stack of Christmas cookie magazines increases every year, so does the list of delicious cookies I tried.   I like to choose cookies that have interesting texture and color so when paired together they visually please the eyes.  I love making small cookies, almost like miniature, so you can taste more than one and don't feel guilty.  These are keepers.

The first new recipe I tried this year comes from the book A Passion for Desserts by Emily Luchetti, a simple and delicious pecan short bread. Emily is the executive pastry chef at Farallon and Waterbar restaurants in San Francisco, and has published many amazing books, and has also been writing a blog for years (which I just discovered, not sure why I didn't find it earlier, she is one my favorite pastry chefs).

I will definitely make these cookies again, they are buttery shortbread cookies, studded with pecans, and they melt in your mouth.  The only drawback is that they are a little too fragile and crumbly, maybe adding a tad less butter would help.  They are not too sweet, and don't they look great as ice cream sandwiches?

Since I had some pears that needed to be used and some left over caramel sauce I decided to try the ice cream recipe that was paired with the cookies in the book.  I used the most amazingly colored crimson pears I have ever seen, which I bought on a whim, just for the color. 

Isn't the color amazing?

The ice cream is delicious, the flavor of the pears is intense, and the swirls of caramel bring it to a different realm.  However I decreased the sugar by a 1/4 cup and it was still too sweet, maybe it was the omission of the pear liquor, which Emily adds in the recipe but I didn't.   The ice cream  was perfect paired with the cookies since they are really not sweet at all.

 
 

You can find another pear ice cream recipe from David Lebovitz clicking on the link.

Pear-Caramel Swirl Ice Cream
adapted from Passion for Desserts

Six ripe pears (about 3 pounds)
3/4 cup plus 1/3 cups sugar
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 large egg yolks
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups milk
2 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 cup cold Caramel Sauce

Peel, halve, and core the pears.  Slice them 1/2 inch stick.  Cook the pear slices, 1/3 cup of the sugar and the lemon juice over medium heat, until the pears are soft and the juices have evaporated.  Let cool for 10 minutes and then puree until smooth.  Refrigerate until cold.

In a bowl, whip the egg yolks with 1/4 cup of sugar.  Bring cream to a boil, then pour onto the yolks to slowly temper them until they are thickened into a custard.  Immediately strain and add the cold milk.  Refrigerate until cold.  Stir together the pear puree and the egg custard.  Freeze according to your ice cream maker.   (Note:  the yield is more that my ice cream maker could freeze, so I had to freeze in two batches).

Pecan Cookies

3 1/2 ounces butter, softened

1/3 cup sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup plus 2 tbs all-purpose flour

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup pecan pieces

Beat the butter, sugar and vanilla until smooth, 30 seconds.  Add the flour, salt and pecans.  Mix just until combined.  Roll dough into a log, 1 inch thick, using a sheet of parchment paper.  Chill or freeze until hard.  Pre-heat oven to 325F, cut log into 1/4 inch thick slices, place on a paper lined baking sheet and bake until light golden.  Let cool.

Caramel Ice Cream

I am not in a fall funk anymore, I have embraced the fall fruits to the fullest, and am getting excited by the endless possibilities. Last night I needed an ice cream to go with an apple tart Tatin I made for some friends who came over for dinner. At the risk of almost repeating myself, I decided to try another caramel ice cream, because caramel and apples were made for each other, don't you agree? This time I used a recipe I found in Emily Luchetti's A Passion for Ice Cream, and I want to share it as it is one of the best ice creams I have made (and it was a pleasure to hear how much my guests loved it too, especially Rahel). I have spoken about this super talented pastry chef before, her books are amazing and a constant font of inspiration and awesome recipes. This ice cream recipe is no different, just perfect. I only added some fresh ginger since the ice cream was the closing note on an Asian inspired dinner.

There are two ways to caramelize sugar, a "wet" method that uses water, and a "dry" method where the sugar is melted directly. I have had plenty of wet caramel batches crystallize before my eyes, so I now exclusively use the dry method for small batches of caramel. The recipe calls for the wet method. Whatever method you use, watch the pot and when the sugar starts turning color, lower to flame. The caramel has to be a medium/dark color to have plenty of flavor, but not too dark that tastes burnt.

Most ice cream recipes containing eggs call for heating the egg/cream mixture over the stove to custard consistency. This step is unnecessary if the cream mixture is bubbly hot when tempering the yolks, the temperature is high enough to custard the yolks. By doing it this way, you won't run the risk of overcooking the yolks.

Caramel Ice Cream
adapted from Emily Luchetti

7 large egg yolks
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
2 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 oz of fresh ginger, thinly sliced

1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 cups milk

In a heavy sauce pan, stir together the sugar and water and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has dissolved. Increase the heat to high and cook, without stirring, until the sugar is medium amber in color. Remove from the heat. Slowly pour 1/4 cup of cream until combined. Be careful as the cream will bubble up and splatter. Add the remaining cream, 1/4 cup at the time, whisking after each addition. Add the ginger pieces and cook on low until all the caramel has dissolved. Turn the heat off and let the ginger steep for an hour. Reheat the caramel to almost boiling, pour it into the yolks to slowly temper and custard them. The caramel base should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. To immediately cool the custard, add the cold milk and the salt. Strain the ice cream base and chill completely. Freeze according to your ice cream machine.

Roasted Pears & Pear-Caramel Ice Cream

Autumn has officially arrived in the Bay Area so it is time to switch the dessert repertoire, and since I believe that ice cream should be eaten year round I decided to try this full-of-promises ice cream from The Perfect Scoop. David Lebovitz doesn't fail to deliver another amazing recipe, and if you don't have any of his books, run to the bookstore. David suggests using very flavorful pears to stand up to the slightly bitter caramel flavor, and recommends using Comice or Barlett. I decided to try asian pears instead, very delicate in flavor, and very perfumed. According to this site the variety I used is called JunoSan, with a reddish brown skin. I added fresh sliced ginger to the caramel to add an extra kick, and that worked really well. The ice cream was paired with pears baked with an almond streusel (I used the Taylor Gold variety, which were a little delicate but really good and juicy). The dessert was light, easy, and really tasty.

Pear-Caramel Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop

3 medium-sized pears, peeled and cored
3/4 cups plus 2 TBS (180 gr) sugar
2 oz (60 gr) fresh ginger root, peeled and sliced thin
2 cups (500 ml) heavy whipping cream
1/8 tsp kosher salt

Spread the sugar in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. As the sugar starts to liquefy, shake the pan to let the liquid sugar heat and melt the remaining sugar crystals. When all the sugar is melted and a deep amber color, add the pear and the ginger pieces (remember to count the pieces of ginger as you want to remove them all before pureeing the ice cream base). Don't worry if some of the sugar solidifies. Cook the pears for ten minutes until softened through, stirring so all the caramel will melt again. Remove from the heat, add the cream and the salt, and let cool. Remove the ginger pieces, then puree the mixture in a food processor. Strain the mixture to remove any tough pear pieces if you wish (I didn't and I liked the extra texture). Chill completely, then freeze according to your ice cream maker.

Baker Pears with Almond Streusel

Peel and core the pears, add three tablespoons of streusel to each half. Bake at 375F until soft and the top is nicely browned. Use either one or two half pears per serving, depending on the size.

Daring Bakers-Nanaimo Bars

The January 2010 Daring Bakers’ Challenge was hosted by Lauren of Celiac Teen. She chose Gluten Free (or not) Graham Crackers and Nanaimo Bars!

I started making the bars the same day the challenge was supposed to be revealed, another one of those time management mistakes I am known for, I blame it to my creative brain. Knowing that I had the whole day, I figured I could finish on time. But...I didn't count for the fact that I am not in possession of a camera (that's why I haven't posted much lately), and I hit a block when I realized that I didn't have the custard powder needed in the middle layer (note to self: read the recipe instructions before starting the process). I just assumed we were going to make everything from scratch, boy was I wrong. I knew this was going to be a problem since I have a revulsion for using anything that comes assembled in a box. Call me old fashioned, or stubborn, but I couldn't use a pudding mix so I first considered making my own custard, but since I wouldn't know what the consistency was, I quickly dropped that idea. Looking at other creations, especially Simona's, I thought of giving the bar a spin, after all, that's the whole point of the challenge, isn't it? Turning the bar into an ice cream sandwich was cool, I have the cookies, I have the chocolate, all I needed was vanilla ice cream and a camera...easy, right?

Lauren challenged us to make a gluten free bar, which I applaud her for. Unfortunately I wasn't able to find a sweet rice flour where I live, only white rice flour and since I didn't know whether it would work I decided to use regular all purpose flour for the graham crackers. The recipe comes from Nancy Silverton's recipe from Sweets from La Brea Bakery, found at 101cookbooks. I suspect this is the same recipe we used at a restaurant I worked at 2 years ago since DMG, the pastry chef I was working with, worked at Nancy's restaurant for a while. When I started mixing the dough everything felt really familiar. I cooked the cookies like we did at the restaurant, in a big layer and I cut them when almost set since they have the tendency of losing their shape, and turn into UFOs. I also figured that I needed the crumbs for the bottom layer so shape wasn't important.

Before I realized the problem with the middle layer I had already assembled the bottom layer, so I just froze it, added the vanilla ice cream on top, froze the two layers, cut them in squares, and then dipped them in melted chocolate. They were really yummy, not really bar like, and I am considering making them at the restaurant where I will start working at in April.

For the recipe and to see photos of some of the creations click here.

Thanks to Lauren for this challenge, and to Lisa of La Mia Cucina and Ivonne of Cream Puffs in Venice, the creators of the Daring Bakers' challenge.

Gingersnap Lemon Ice Cream Sandwiches

Gelato is ever present in Italy, everywhere you go there is a gelateria where you can find the most amazing flavors of ice cream (malaga, bacio and melone are some of my favorites). Just two blocks from my house there was a wonderful ice cream shop, Gelateria Causin, owned by a nice couple whose son worked there, and was/is the cousin of one of my classmates, whom I had a crush on. They weren't too bold with experimenting, their flavors were classic, but the ice cream was delicious. After many years in business the couple retired and the son sold the business, which has never been the same after they left. I wish I had known back then that I was going to make ice cream as a living, I would have asked them to apprentice at the shop, to learn their craft and maybe get a chance at romance with my former classmate.

Mr. Causin, like I remembered him, waiting for his costumers*

I have learned how to make a simple ice cream base with eggs, milk, cream and sugar. I change the flavors depending on the season, cardamom, ginger, vanilla, lemon thyme, lemon verbena, you name it, but this time I turned to two of my favorite Pastry Chefs, cookbook author extraordinaire, Emily Luchetti and David Lebovitz. While David left the Bay Area some time ago (did it do it for the French macaroons?), Emily still lives in the Bay Area, and works as the Executive Pastry Chef at Farallon Restaurant. Years ago I casually bought David's first book Room for Dessert not quite knowing who he was, but it was love at first sight when I read that he doesn't like chocolate and raspberries together, and that he is crazy for cardamom. I met Emily Luchetti when I bought her book Passion for Dessert, and had it signed at a Bakers' Dozen function. She was part of a panel of authors presenting their just released books and she answered a question that made me realize how down to earth she was despite her success. Emily is someone I would love to work with one day (not that I haven't tried, twice as a matter of fact). Her books have been the source of many recipes, her taste is impeccable and I love reading the little stories she writes on how every recipes came to being. David and Emily came out with an ice cream book almost at the same time but they are very different, hers more feminine and light, his bolder. I decided to join the two authors in an ice cream sandwich so I used Emily's recipe for ginger snaps and David's for the ice cream. I consider ice cream sandwiches something every grown up should have once in a while, to feel like a kid again.

Ginger Snaps
adapted from A Passion for Ice Cream

1 cup a/p flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground white pepper
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp kosher salt
4 oz. butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1 egg
1 TBS molasses

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, 1/4 cup granulated sugar, and the brown sugar together until smooth. Stir in the egg, mix, then stir in the molasses and scrape the sides and the bottom of the bowl well. Stir in the rest of the dry, pre-sifted ingredient in two additions. Refrigerate the dough until firm, about 3 hours. Divide the dough in half, and roll in two 9-inch-long-logs and refrigerate or freeze until solid (I actually scooped the dough with an ice cream scooper). Cut the logs into 1/2" slices (there should be 24 cookies), roll them in the remaining 1/4 cup granulated sugar, arrange them on a baking pan (they expand quite a lot), and bake in a pre-heated 350F oven. Bake until set and still puffy, they will sink as they cool.

Lemon Ice Cream
adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Zest of 2 organic meyer lemons
1/2 cup sugar (100 gr)
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice, approximately 3 lemons (125 ml)
2 cups half-and-half (500 ml)
Pinch of salt

Process the zest with the sugar in a food processor until fine, and the sugar is nicely colored and the lemon oil has been released. Add the juice and mix until the sugar is dissolved. Mix in the half-and-half and the salt until smooth. Chill for an hour, then freeze the mixture according to your ice cream maker's instructions.

*Photo courtesy of unknown photographer, I can't find the site anymore. If I do I will give proper credit.

Fig Walnut Ice Cream, an Anniversary, and a Request

Ten years have passed since the death of my mother in law. She died too young, and I can't believe it still. Somehow every time we drive to Los Angeles, I picture seeing her, hugging her, enjoying her company. She was a great lover of food, and one great supporter of my creations, and never said no to a cake I would bring to all the family meetings. I miss her terribly, so this ice cream is dedicated to Marilyn, who would have licked the spoon with delight.

My friend Darren is raising money in order to participate at the Leukemia Cup Regatta that is being held in the San Francisco Bay next weekend. This regatta is part of a bigger fund raising effort by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, with events throughout the States. Darren has raised 69% of his contribution but unfortunately he is $600 short of the minimum that will allow him to sail on Saturday. Today is the last day he can try to raise the final $600. In this tough economy he relies on the generosity of his friends and relatives, so it would be really sad if he weren't able to participate to this event which means so much to him. I am asking my readers to generously donate any little amount to help my friend honor his mother and her long struggle with Leukemia. So please visit his web page and follow the directions. As someone who lost a loved one to a long struggle with cancer, I thank you from the bottom of my heart, every little amount counts.

I recently tried a sorbet made with figs and walnuts and it was delicious. You could first taste the sweetness of the figs, followed by the slight bitterness of the walnuts. Since I can't eat enough figs, and they are so bountiful and relatively cheap now, I tried this combination in an ice cream version.

A recipe by David Lebovitz was the starting point for this ice cream, to which I added a step in which I steeped some walnuts in the cream for an hour, and omitted the lemon. The resulting ice cream has a wonderful texture, is not too sweet and delicious!

Fig Walnut Ice Cream
3 cups

2 pounds fresh figs, cut in 8th
1/2 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Cook the figs with the sugar until jam like consistency, set aside to cool. Bring the cream to a boil and steep the walnuts for an hour. Add the cream to the cooled figs and puree until the desired consistency. Chill the ice cream base completely and then freeze it according to your ice cream maker. Enjoy!

Daring Bakers-Bakewell Tart with Fig and Raspberry Jam

Once again I find myself doing this on the last possible day. Luckily we are having dinner at some friends' house tonight so I won't have to eat it all by myself. Naturally today had to be one of the hottest days we had in more than a month, so it will be a challenge to take a picture of the ice cream before it melts. But I won't be a daring baker if I didn't try in the worst possible conditions.

The June Daring Bakers' challenge was hosted by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict and Annemarie of Ambrosia and Nectar. They chose a Traditional (UK) Bakewell Tart... er... pudding that was inspired by a rich baking history dating back to the 1800's in England.

To read the whole recipe click here, I will tell you about my version.

To be true to the challenge we had to make two things from the original recipe, the short tart dough and the frangipane. We could be daring, however, and change the rest of the elements. Some of the comments that had been posted in the daring kitchen private forum made me decide to decrease the amount of sugar in the frangipane as some people found the tart overwhelmingly sweet. The frangipane recipe given is very different from the one I normally make, which calls for less sugar and just one egg for the same amount of butter so I was curious to try it. I only used 80 gr. of powder sugar instead of 125, and added extra ground almonds to compensate for the super liquid frangipane.

I decided to make mini tarts so they would bake faster and will look more elegant in individual plates.

For the jam, I initially thought of using the blood orange jam I made few months ago, but then I saw some beautiful figs at the market and couldn't resist. I made a quick fig and raspberry jam inspired by Julia Child's book Baking with Julia, in which you can find a fig raspberry crostata to die for. Fig trees produce figs twice a year, once right when they put out new leaves, which results in a very small fruit crop, and later in the summer for a more bountiful fall crop. I love the combination of the two fruits so I decided to use that under the frangipane. I didn't strain the seeds out since they add texture and I don't really mind them. I only added a teaspoon of jam at the bottom of each frozen tart, and piped the frangipane on top.


To finish the dessert I made the always pleasing lemon-verbena ice cream. Lemon verbena goes so well with more stone fruit and berries, so I figured it would work with the flavors of this tart as well.


Fig Raspberry Jam
1 pint figs
1 pint raspberries
1/4 cup brown sugar
zest of one lemon

Cut the figs in small pieces and add to a pan with the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a soft boil and cook until thick, stirring occasionally. Cool completely before adding it to the tart shells.

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cup reduced fat milk
1 cup lemon verbena leaves
3/4 cup sugar
5 yolks
pinch of salt

Bring the cream, the milk and sugar to a boil and steep the lemon verbena for an hour. Re-heat the cream mixture to a boil, and slowly pour onto the yolks whisking to temper them until they thicken into a custard. Add the salt and strain the yolk custard into a bowl set onto an ice bath. Chill completely and then freeze the ice cream base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

The resulting tarts were very good, the jam was delicious and the ice cream worked well with the rest of the flavors. The frangipane was a little on the dry side, having to do with the reduction of the sugar amount. It was still plenty sweet so I am glad I cut the sugar.

Thanks Jasmine and Annemarie for choosing this recipe and teaching me a new tart I didn't know.

Chocolate Ice Cream and Cocoa Nib Tuiles

Judging by the mess above, this recipe wins the prize for messiest. However, it also wins a prize for being so chocolaty delicious.

I have had this recipe for a while but never tried it before. H, a very sweet person, recently asked me to make chocolate ice cream and I couldn't resist. The recipe comes from Chez Panisse, and I got it when I was a pastry intern in the summer of 2006. Chez Panisse is one of those restaurants that believe in sharing, customers can request a copy of any recipe and they will kindly oblige. Armed with this knowledge I am publishing this recipe without asking their permission.

I scaled down the recipe by a third, since I had the exact amount of yolks from a butter cream I made the previous weekend. If I had read the recipe more closely though, I would have noticed that, even after scaling, it still makes 4 quarts of ice cream base. OUCH! Once I started though, I decided to keep going so I would have chocolate ice cream for ever. Nothing wrong with that!

One of the reasons for the extreme mess and copious amount of pots, bowls and utensils used, was the breaking of the ganache. I followed their method of melting the chocolate with the cream, but maybe I mixed it too early and broke the ganache. I was about to pass out from hyperventilating when I saw those 10.5 precious ounces of Scharffen-Berger chocolate reduced to a horrible separated mess. My pastry senses came back and I was able to bring the ganache back together in a mixer by emulsifying it by adding some cold cream. PHEW!

Mess aside, this is an amazing ice cream, not too sweet and intensely chocolaty. Worth the effort.

Chocolate Ice Cream
adapted by Chez Panisse

1 3/4 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cup cream
2 1/2 cup milk
pinch of salt
2 cups sugar

10.5 oz. bitter chocolate
1 c cream

14 yolks
2 3/4 cup cream
2 3/4 cup milk

Put cocoa in a pan, add the cream to make a paste. Add the milk, the sugar, and salt and bring to a boil (mix the bottom constantly to prevent scorching). In the meantime, heat the cream to a boil and then pour onto chopped chocolate, wait 5 minutes and then slowly whisk them together, and set aside. When the cocoa mixture is hot, slowly pour it onto the yolks to temper them. If the mixture is very hot the yolks will custard, otherwise transfer the liquid onto a clean pan and heat it up stirring continuously, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon (when your finger leaves a clear line through the custard on the spoon it's ready). Slowly stir the warm custard into the melted chocolate and whisk well. Slowly add the last amounts of cream and milk to the custard. Strain well and chill. Freeze according to your ice cream maker.

Cocoa Nib Cups
Courtesy of Pastry Chef DMG

3 oz sugar
1 oz glucose
3 oz butter
1 oz milk
6 oz cocoa nibs
1 oz flour

Partially grind the cocoa nibs, just enough to have some dust and slightly smaller nibs. Melt the butter, sugar and glucose in a heavy saucepan. Add the milk and whisk well. Add the flour and the nibs. Refrigerate until firm. Spoon onto a silpat, leaving space a lot of space since they expand quite a bit. Bake at 325F until firm. Let cool slightly until they can lifted without braking. Make cups or tuiles using the back of a muffin pan or rolling pin. If not using glucose, substitute corn syrup and decrease the milk by a teaspoon. Makes 12-16 cups depending on the size.

Basil Ice Cream, Strawberries, and Balsamic Reduction

Taking this picture was a lesson on patience, setting, styling, and I know I wouldn't get an A, but I have no more ice cream so this picture has to do. I don't have much of a set up yet, so I take pictures with natural light and a white foam board to reflect the light. I initially put the plate on the freezer with the quenelle of ice cream, but as soon as I took the plate out, droplets of condensation started forming, which made the balsamic reduction smear and look horrible. I didn't have more ice cream left (yes it was so good we gobbled it up pretty fast), and the sun was moving closer and closer to the plate! I quickly wiped the plate and took few more pictures before it was too late. This is the only one that made the cut, and only barely I am afraid. Everything looks nice and shiny except for the ice cream blob, the picture doesn't do any justice to the pale green ice cream unfortunately.

I made the ice cream for my husband's birthday and served it with cream biscuits. The dessert got a 10 from a man with a very discerning palate, which means it was pretty good.

The recipe comes from Pastry Chef, cookbook author extraordinaire, David Lebovitz, one of my favorite people in the pastry realm. As told in his books, David started his career in pastry while working on the savory side of the Chez Panisse kitchen. He later became Pastry Chef, and worked there for many years. Eventually David left the Bay Area and moved to Paris where he still resides (did it do it for the French macaroons?). Check out his website because he is not only funny, but extremely knowledgeable on all things pastry. His cookbooks are fun to read and a great source of inspiration. Years ago, I casually bought David first book Room for Dessert not knowing who he was, but I immediately knew it was love when I read that not only he doesn't like chocolate and raspberries together, but he is also crazy for cardamom, one of my favorite spices. When David came out with The Perfect Scoop, I knew that sooner or later I had to buy it, and I am happy I did. The book has plenty of ice cream recipes to choose from in the second chapter (Green Pea Ice Cream anyone?). In the next two chapters, you can find great sorbet and granita recipes like Cantaloupe sorbet, Leche Merengada, or Mojito Granita. He doesn't stop at the frozen part though, but also includes three more chapters: one on sauces, one on crunchies to mix in, and one on vessels you can bake to present your creations with. Are you running to your local bookstore yet?

Basil Ice Cream
adapted from the Perfect Scoop

1 cup packed basil leaves
3/4 cup sugar
2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
pinch salt
5 large eggs
zest of one lemon

Grind the basil leaves with the sugar and 1 cup of the cream until the leaves are ground as fine as possible. Pour half of the mixture into a large bowl and add the remaining 1 cup of the cream.

Warm the other half of the basil mixture with the milk and salt. While the milk is warming up break up the yolks with a whisk. When the milk start simmering, turn the heat off, and pour it slowly into the yolks whisking to temper them until they thicken into a custard. Strain the yolk custard into the reserved cream-basil mixture, mix well, add the lemon zest and chill completely. Freeze the ice cream base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Buon Appetito!