Strawberry, Basil & Black Pepper Ice Cream

Ingredients

Method

1. Carefully separate the egg yolks using your hands or spoons. Put aside the egg whites for another recipe.
2. Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl, with an electric mixer, until thick and light in colour.
3. Separate the basil leaves from their stems and put in a blender alongside a dollop of the mascarpone. Puree with a food blender.
4. Add the basil puree and the remaining mascarpone to the whisked egg yolks. Grind in a large dose of black pepper.
5. Mix in the strawberry powder enough that it won't spray everywhere, then whisk all the ingredients together.
6. Decant into a freezer suitable dish and freeze for at least 6 hours.

Notes

• I tend to double up this recipe to make enough for a few days. You can use up the egg whites by making <a href="https://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/easy-chocolate-mousse" rel="nofollow">chocolate mousse</a>.
• I vibed the quantity of pepper. A few grinder twists wasn't enough so I added a healthy dose the second time. If I make this again I'll measure it in tsp. Consider using a fine spice mill or grinding with a mortar and pestal, because my supermarket grinder left large pieces.
• There was only 1/4tsp of vanilla essence left the first time I made this. I think 1/2-1tsp would work best.
• While the food colouring is optional the mixture is a concrete grey by default, so I'd recommend it! I've doubled the quantity of food colouring when writing this up because the mixture was still a bit grey, but YMMV.
• Stephani tasting notes: Interesting and complex. Most liked so far. Strong basil flavour with moments of strawberry and black pepper.
• Kit tasting notes: smells like pesto, tastes juicy and fruity with strawberry dominating the basil. Pepper a bit weak. Might improve after a few days in the freezer but I should consider soaking the pepper in the mascarpone for a day in the fridge before making ice cream. Consider adding a dash of lime juice to balance the strawberry sweetness, like <a href="https://peterleymanorfarm.co.uk/strawberry-basil-and-black-pepper-ice-cream/">this recipe</a> does.