Monday, May 10, 2010

April 10-11, 2010: Basil ice-cream, dairyful and dairy-free

On arriving home from our holiday, I was keen to get back into the kitchen and took a cue from my recipe calendar.  April was all about basil icecream.  The recipe doesn't use the usual cream, eggs or milk at all, instead deriving its rich creaminess from mascarpone and yoghurt.  For my vegan/gluten-free challenge I simply replaced these with coconut cream (this is the paler of the two scoops pictured).

The coconut cream-based version was sweeter and mellower, while the original recipe had the pleasant tang of a cheesecake.  Both taste 'green' in the best possible way - fresh and summery, the perfect embellishment to a fruit salad.


Basil icecream

dairyful ingredients
1/2 large bunch fresh basil
250g castor sugar
125g mascarpone
600g Greek-style yoghurt

dairy-free ingredients
1/2 large bunch fresh basil
250g castor sugar
800mL coconut cream

Roughly chop the basil, including the stems, and place them in a food processor with the sugar.  Blend them thoroughly, until they're a uniform powdery mixture.  (You may need to stop the blade and scrape down the sides a couple of times.)

Transfer the basil-sugar to a bowl and whisk in the remaining ingredients.  Chill the mixture thoroughly and churn it in an icecream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

7 comments:

  1. I fully endorse this product! (Dairy free version, of course.)

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  2. Oh coconut cream in icecream. Very novel and cool

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  3. Ohhh I want some, will you make it for the ice cream potluck/birthday party

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  4. good idea! esp using the coconut cream

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  5. If you're looking for some more green and slightly freaky ice-cream recipes, I recently made an avocado, lime and green chili ice-cream. It was great! You'll find the recipe on the Interweb.

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  6. Simon and I were just mulling over pesto ice cream, what a coincidence. Your use of mascarpone has given us food for thought. Ps Simon wants to know what model of ice cream maker you guys have
    Gem

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  7. Thanks Lisa. :-D

    Mark, it's tasty and easy - I think I'm going to be using coconut cream in icecream often.

    Kristy, it's definitely an option! Remind me when that party approaches.

    Thanks and welcome, GG. :-)

    Hey dmargster! I similarly had a go at some savoury avocado icecream back in summer. I like the idea of adding lime.

    Hi Gem! I'll be interested to see how that turns out. Our ice cream maker is a Sunbeam Snowy. :-)

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