Yield: 1 quart
Ingredients
For the ice cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 tbsp + 1 tsp cornstarch
- 3 tbsp cream cheese, softened
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- 1¼ cups heavy cream
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 2 tbsp light corn syrup
- large handful of fresh cinnamon basil leaves, torn into small pieces
- ¼ cup Pine Nut Pralines (recipe below)
For the pine nut pralines
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 2 tbsp light brown sugar
- 2 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
Instructions
- In a small bowl, mix together 2 tbsp of the milk with the cornstarch. Set aside. Whisk the cream cheese and the salt in a medium bowl until smooth and set aside. Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
- In a 4-quart saucepan, combine the remaining milk, heavy cream, sugar, and corn syrup. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes, making sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t boil over. Remove from the heat. Whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil over medium-high heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
- Slowly whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese until smooth. Stir in the basil. Pour into a 1 gallon Ziploc bag, seal, and submerge in the ice bath. Let stand until cold, about 30 minutes.
- Strain the basil out of the custard. Pour the custard into a frozen ice cream maker canister and churn until thick and creamy, according to manufacturer’s instructions.
- Pack the ice cream into a cold storage container, folding in the pine nut pralines as you go. Store in the freezer in an airtight container.
For the pine nut pralines
- Heat oven to 350F.
- Combine the nuts, brown sugar, honey, butter, and sea salt in a bowl. Spread on a parchment-lined baking sheet in an even layer. Bake for 8 minutes. Stir and bake for another 5-6 minutes, stirring twice. Remove from the heat and let cool, stirring the nuts frequently to break them up.