Strawberry, Basil & Roasted Almonds Ice Cream

When we go to the supermarket for buying our groceries, we usually divide the list of things that we need to pick up between R and me, to save time. (trust me, it is needed.. for 2 reasons..1) my list is usually long and 2)more often than not I loose track of time  while shopping for food J) So every time R comes back with his half of the list, there are always a few tubs of ice cream that come along J He loves Ice Cream, and I mean it when I say he Loves it.. He sits with a tub and polishes it off; all by himself, at one go…

Well, that is reason enough for me to make ice cream at home. Unfortunately I have been trying to get my hands at an Ice-cream machine for a while now. Have tried almost every possible place, but without any luck. I wanted the cuisine art and although it is available on amazon, it will cost me a fortune to get it shipped to Mumbai. So, I kind of was putting off making Ice cream at home, till I could find some other model. Wherever I have read, most of the people said that making an ice cream without the ice cream maker, hugely affects its texture.  But then I guess I was getting too impatient and decided to find out a way of making it without an Ice Cream. After reading a lot of recipes online I decided to make one with a combination of a few.

I had frozen some strawberries just before the season got over. This would be the best time to use them! J I made a strawberry and basil Ice Cream with Roasted Almonds.

Check out this picture.. This is ice that had covered the strawberries, it had the exact impression of the bumpy strawberries, slight pinkish hue.. it looked beautiful! J

The recipe is very simple and uncomplicated, good news for vegeterians..doesn’t have any eggs J.

Recipe

           

Yield:  1 1/2 Quarts approx

Ingredients:

400gms Strawberries (Fresh or Frozen chopped)

400ml Cream (Amul Fresh Cream is what I have used)

¾ cup Fresh Basil leaves (washed & dried)

¾ cup lightly Toasted Almonds (Chopped)

1 cup Sugar

Juice of 1 Large Lemon

Half a can of Sweet Condensed Milk

Method:

   1.  Let ¾th of the strawberries & sugar macerate in the blender jar for about half an hour.

   2. Then blend the strawberries, sugar, lemon juice & basil leaves together.

   3. In a Large Bowl whisk together the Cream & Condensed Milk.

   4. Pour the strawberry puree into the cream mixture, stir in the almonds, chopped strawberries (If you prefer your ice cream smoother, you can puree all the strawberries, I like mine chunky J) & whisk it all together till well combined. Pour the ice cream in a freezer safe container & freeze for at least 4 hours.

   5.Remove the ice cream from the freezer and blend it, till it’s all smooth again. Refreeze & repeat the procedure at 2 more times every 3-4 hour. This process helps break the ice crystals and results in a smooth textured ice cream.

The resulting Ice Cream is smooth, almost gelato like in texture. The taste is oh so refreshing with just the right amount of nutty crunch from the toasted almonds, little bursts of strawberry awesomeness from the strawberry chunks and basil giving it that exotic edge, each flavour shining through! Oh Strawberries can’t wait for you to come back again…. J

P.S: The ice cream takes just a little longer to freeze and I wanted to photograph it the same day, hence the pictures are that of a slightly runny ice cream J I had planned on taking some more pictures the next day after it froze properly, but guess what? There wasn’t any left to photograph..so, sorry for the not being able to post the perfect scoop. J