Basil Ice Cream and Scones

A friend of mine brought me a huge bunch of fresh basil when she came over for a playdate, so I've been trying to find ways of using it outside of the ubiquitous pasta-sauce-type thing. I remembered that I had a recipe for basil ice cream, and since I had enough to spare, I tried it.

It is delicious. It's warm and creamy and green all at the same time. I'm not a huge fan of licorice/anise, but I can eat this by the cupful.

Making the ice cream was a bit more involved than I was originally expecting. Instead of steeping the leaves in the cream, then making the custard, you blanch the basil and make a puree with simple syrup; then add this to the cooled custard, strain the whole thing, then put it in the ice cream maker.

I gave a bite to The Boy last night, and while he liked it, he thought it needed to be paired with something else. He suggested a "cheese bowl, made with sharp cheese", but I'm not so sure.

And on a different note, I found a great way to enjoy freshly baked scones without having to make a fresh batch each time.

I'm a fan of scones (probably not the best for my waistline, but there you go). And while I can make the dough and make the whole batch, let's face it, even I probably can't eat a whole dozen in 1 or 2 days. Yes, you can freeze the baked scones, but for me, part of the experience is the warm scone-y smell that wafts through the house while they're baking.

Then, I found a great tip: make the dough, portion and shape each serving, then freeze the unbaked dough. Next time you want a scone or two, take out the portions, let them thaw while you're preheating the oven, then bake at the normal temp for the normal time. It's seriously awesome.