2C Whole Milk1T + 1t cornstarch
1.5oz (3T) cream cheese, softened
1/4t fine sea salt
1.25C Heavy Cream
2/3C sugar
2T light corn syrup
A large handful of fresh basil leaves roughly torn into small pieces
1/3C Honey Pine Nuts (see below)
Honey Pine Nuts: (makes about 1 cup)
1C Pine Nuts (or other nut if you like)
2T light brown sugar
2T honey
1T unsalted butter, melted
1/4t fine sea salt
Preheat oven to 350. Combine nuts with the remaining ingredients in a bowl, tossing to coat. Spread out on a baking sheet and bake for 8 mins. Stir and bake for another 5-6 mins, stirring twice; the nuts should look bubbly and somewhat dry. Remove from the oven and let cool completely, stirring the nuts every couple mins to break them up.
Ice Cream
PREP: Mix 2T of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a slurry. Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
COOK: Combine remaining milk, the cream, sugar and corn syrup in a 4 qt saucepan, bring to a rolling boil over med-high heat and boil for 4 minutes. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry. Bring the mixture back to a boil over med-high heat and cook, stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened about 1 minute. Remove from heat.
CHILL: Gradually whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the basil. Pour the mixture into a 1 gallon freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 mins.
FREEZE: Strain out the basil. Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy. Pack the ice cream into a storage container, folding in the honey pine nut pralines as you go. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hrs.
Opah!!
