Basil Olive Oil Ice Cream

It’s Day 8 of our little 12 Days of Christmas Project and I’m turning tradition on its head and giving you an ice cream recipe. I know that ice cream may not be the most tradition of holiday desserts, but we eat snow so why not ice cream? Like all of the ice cream recipes I have here on the blog, this ice cream base can made without an ice cream maker or with the assistance of one so there are no real excuses for not making ice cream.

I created this recipe a few months ago as a part of a Thanksgiving campaign featuring Monini’s Basil Olive Oil and it was a hit. A simple vanilla ice cream custard base is steeped with basil leaves and basil olive oil is added after whipping the cold custard (or drizzled in during the churning process if you are using an ice cream maker). Once the base has frozen overnight, more olive oil is drizzled on the ice cream before serving. It’s bright and floral and interesting and makes a really lovely dessert when served after a rich, heavy meal.

If you don’t have access to Monini’s Basil Olive Oil, this recipe can easily be made using high-quality, extra virgin olive oil. And if you are looking to go the extra mile, scrape out a few vanilla beans and place the seeds and pods in a jar with some olive oil and let it infuse. Store it in your pantry and have it on hand to drizzle over any ice cream or fruit anytime.

Basil Olive Oil Ice Cream

makes 1 quart of ice cream

Ingredients

2 cups (460 g) heavy cream

6-8 fresh basil leaves

3 strips of lemon zest (from about 1/2 of a lemon)

3/4 cup granulated sugar

4 egg yolks

pinch of salt

1 tbsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup Monini Basil Olive Oil or extra virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

Procedure

1. In a medium saucepan, heat cream, basil leaves, and lemon zest over medium-low heat until it is beginning to bubble around the edges of the pan and is hot to the touch. When hot and bubbly, remove from the heat and cover. Let steep for 30 minutes, then strain out basil and lemon zest.

2. Return the steeped cream to the medium saucepan and set it back over the heat. Bring the cream back to a simmer.

3. While the cream is heating, whisk together sugar, egg yolks, salt, and vanilla extract until a thick paste forms. When the cream is hot, slowly stream it into the egg mixture, whisking continually the whole time. Transfer the entire mixture back into the saucepan and return to heat.

4. Cook, stirring continually with a wooden spoon, over low-medium heat until the sauce is thickened, but do not bring to a boil. You can test if the sauce is ready by wiping your finger through the sauce along the back of the wooden spoon. If the line your finger creates holds, the sauce is ready. If it drips, continue cooking.

5. When the sauce is sufficiently thickened, remove from heat and immediately strain into a large mixing bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap directly over the top of the custard, cover and refrigerate, until completely cold (preferably overnight).

6. When the ice cream base is cold, transfer it to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whip on medium-high speed until soft peaks form and then, with the mixer running, stream in the 1/4 cup of olive oil

7. Spread the whipped cream mixture into a 8x8” loaf pan, press a piece of plastic wrap directly on the surface, wrap tightly, and freeze for at least 12 hours.

8. To serve, scoop ice cream and drizzle with more olive oil.

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Cafe Con Leche Cheesecake

Inspired by my favorite Latin drink, cafe con leche, this fluffy, layered cheesecake recipe is spiked with strong espresso and kahlua. A decadent, coffee cheesecake topped with a tart sour cream whipped cream.

I didn’t know what home tasted like until I went away to college. There are so many flavors and smells that we associate with different people and places in our life. The smell of Boursin cheese makes me think of my Aunt’s house in North Carolina and her many many area rugs (which are beautiful and I would love for my house now). The smell of bread and sausage reminds me of my grandmother cooking in her kitchen in Pensacola, making big batches of briolata. But home, with all of it’s flavors and smells, alluded me until fall of my freshman year of college.

I grew up in South Florida and moved a few hours north to Orlando to attend UCF many (but not too many) years ago. The first few months, my roommate and I were pretty homesick and utterly baffled at the lack of Latin pastries available to us. In South Florida, there are Latin bakeries on every corner. There is a Colombian bakery, a Venezuelan Bakery, at least two Cuban bakeries, and one catch-all Hispanic food spot within a five minute drive of my parent’s house. You can even. get empanadas and croquettes at your local Publix, so imagine our surprise when we discovered that not even Publix in this new, empanada-free land of Orlando was able to come to our rescue.

That winter, when I came home for Christmas break, empanadas and cafe con leches were number one on my list. The first morning home, my sister and I got up early and drove (across the street) to Panna, our favorite local gas station/car wash/Latin-pastry heaven. We loaded up with brown paper bags full of basically everything on the shelf and 4 giant cafe con leches balanced precariously in a flimsy beverage carrier. It was Christmas, I was home, and everything was right with the world. Even now, Panna is the first stop when we exit I-75 for my little taste of home.

About the recipe:

Cafe con Leche is coffee from the gods. It is strong espresso with lots of milk and usually a little sweetened condensed milk. This cheesecake is a super-fun two-tone guy, with an espresso paste stirred into a third of the batter and spooned on top. The cheesecake base itself uses whipped egg whites to make it extra light and creamy and the whole thing is topped with a sweetened whipped cream/sour cream mixture. The crust is made from Maria cookies, a very Hispanic treat similar to a graham cracker. If you can’t find Maria cookies, you can definitely sub in graham crackers or gingersnaps or any other cookie you love. It’s a beautiful cheesecake and has cemented itself as a favorite in our family.

Yield

8-10

Author

Anna Ramiz

Prep time

30 Min

Cook time

1 Hour

Inactive time

5 Hour

Total time

6 H & 30 M

Print

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Cafe Con Leche Cheesecake

Inspired by my favorite Latin drink, cafe con leche, this fluffy, layered cheesecake recipe is spiked with strong espresso and kahlua. A decadent, coffee cheesecake topped with a tart sour cream whipped cream.

Ingredients

for the crust

• 7 oz Maria Cookies *
• 1 tsp instant espresso
• 1/4 cup (50 g) granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cardamom
• pinch of salt
• 1/2 cup (113 g) unsalted butter, melted

for the cheesecake

• 2 lb cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups (150 g) granulated sugar
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tbsp vanilla extract
• 4 eggs, separated
• 1/4 cup (57 g) heavy cream
• 2 tbsp instant espresso
• 2 tbsp Kahlua

for the topping

• 3/4 cup (170 g) sour cream
• 1/4 cup (57 g) heavy cream
• 3 tbsp powdered sugar
• 2 tsp vanilla extract

Instructions

to make the crust

1. Preheat oven to 325° F and line the bottom of a 9” springform pan with parchment paper. Set aside.
2. In the bowl of a food processor, pulse the cookies until finely ground. Add the espresso, sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, and salt. Pulse a few more times, just to combine. Transfer the cookie mixture to a medium bowl and add the melted butter. Stir everything together until the mixture is moistened and no dry spots remain. Press the cookie crumbs into an even layer on the bottom of the prepared pan.

to make the cheesecake

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk, whip the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Transfer the whipped whites to another bowl and set aside.
2. Dissolve the instant espresso in heavy cream and set aside.
3. Return the mixing bowl to the stand mixer and switch to the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese until very smooth. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.
4. In a small bowl, whisk together sugar and cornstarch until there are no clumps. Add the sugar and cornstarch to the mixer with the cream cheese and mix for 1-2 minutes until combined.
5. With the mixer on low speed, add the egg yolks one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again and continue to mix until the batter is smooth and homogenous.
6. Remove In two additions, fold whipped egg whites into cheesecake batter until no streaks remain.
7. Pour two-thirds of the batter into the prepared pan. Add the espresso/heavy cream mixture to the remaining third of the batter, along with the Kahlua. Mix well to combine, and then pour in a layer on top of the cheesecake.
8. Place cheesecake in a water bath and bake for one hour. After an hour, turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in with the oven door closed for another hour. After two hours, remove the cheesecake from the oven, wrap in plastic wrap, and transfer to the refrigerator to chill for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight.

to make the topping

1. In the bowl of the stand mixer fitted with the whisk, whip sour cream and heavy cream until soft peaks form. Add powdered sugar and vanilla and continue whipping until thick. Spoon whipped cream over the top of your chilled cheesecake and serve immediately.

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Pear Tarte Tatin

I’m back with another new Christmas dessert recipe for you for Day 5 of 12 Days of Christmas Desserts. In case you haven’t quite figured it out yet, I love all things French. When I was little, my aunt used to go to Paris on a regular basis and when any of us cousins turned 12, she took us with her. I vividly remember my 8 year-old self seeing pictures and hearing stories from my cousin’s first French getaway and counting down the days until my 12th birthday. Unfortunately, we moved from North Carolina to Florida later that year and life got in the way and coordinating trips to Paris fell to the wayside. But 20 years later, my time came. My generous aunt packed us up and we spent 10 days in Aix-en-Provence, a region in the South of France, celebrating our birthdays (because we share the same birthdate) and it was really all I imagined my first trip to France being. Then last year, Martin and I spent a few days wandering the streets of Paris and Bordeaux and I began shopping for French real estate. I once listened to a podcast interview with Dorie Greenspan where she said that the first time she walked off of the plane in Paris, she thought to herself "I could have been born here” and I feel that deeply in my soul.

But since Europe doesn’t yet recognize Martin’s professional licenses and I currently do not make enough money off of my writing to support us living overseas, I’ve resigned myself to reading David Lebovitz books and eating steak frites, and drinking lots of wine. Oh, and making French pastries.

Tarte Tatin is a very classic French dessert and it’s somewhat of an upside-down tart. It’s often made with apples, but I had some really beautiful pears in my most recent Misfits Market box that were begging to be snuggled in puff pastry. It’s really a fairly simple recipe, once you know what you are looking for. I did a lot of tarte tatin research in creating this recipe and all of the recipes that I found really don’t differ much. I very slightly adapted one from Deb Perlman at Smitten Kitchen, who had slightly adapted her recipe from the most-talented Susan Spungeon.

I found that the easiest way to make the caramel is by using a large, deep skillet where you can easily see the color of the sugar as it cooks and then transfer everything to a cast iron for baking. You can use store-bought puffy pastry or make your own, I have a recipe with step-by-step instructions here. The most important thing is to let the pastry cool completely (30-60 minutes) before inverting it to keep from having to clean up a sticky, caramel mess.

Pear Tarte Tatin

makes one 10” skillet

slightly adapted from Deb Perlman who adapted from Susan Spungen 

Ingredients

4 tbsp (55 g) unsalted butter

3/4 cup (150 g) granulated sugar

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

2 tbsp dark rum

1 sheet puff pastry, store-bought or homemade 

6 pears, each sliced into eighths

Procedure 

1. Place your cut pears into a large bowl and squeeze the juice of half of a lemon over top of them. Toss to coat and then set aside.

2. Pour sugar in an even layer in the bottom of a large skillet. Turn the heat to medium heat and cook, without stirring until sugar begins to dissolve and turn golden. When all of the sugar has dissolved, you may swirl the pan once or twice. Cook until a deep amber color.

3. When the sugar is a deep brown liquid, whisk in the butter. The mixture will bubble and sputter, but that’s ok, keep whisking. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the rum.

4. Add the pears to the caramel and stir to coat. Cook over medium-low heat for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until pears are softened and caramel is bubbly.

5. Use tongs to arrange the pear slices in an even layer in the bottom of a 10” cast iron skillet (or deep pie plate) and then pour the remaining caramel over the top. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

6. While the pears are cooling, preheat the oven to 400° F.

7. Roll your sheet of puff pastry out into a circle just larger than the skillet and trim the edges. When the pears are mostly cool, gently lay the puff pastry over the top of the skillet and slice a small hole in the center to let steam escape.

8. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until pastry is deeply golden and caramel is bubbling.

9. Let the tarte tatin cool completely in the skillet (at least 30 minutes) before carefully inverting onto a plate or serving dish.

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