Basil Pots de Crème · GF (6 servings)Tweet

The first basil leaves of the season and the last of spring’s strawberries cohabit the farmer’s market for the briefest window, well suited but ill fated lovers whose time together is all too brief. And if you live in some part of the country where they linger together for a while longer, don’t rub it in.

Most strawberry-basil recipes favor strawberry, as if basil only deserves a supporting role. But give it a chance to take the lead, accessorized by strawberries, and you’ll never reverse their roles again.

These basil pots de crème don’t contain a drop of food coloring. Grinding the basil and sugar in a food processor releases a crazy-intense all natural color (and flavor!) from the leaves, which get strained out before the custard goes into the oven.

Once cool, serve with strawberry chantilly, a spoonful of strawberry reduction and a sprinkling of granola for crunch.

Basil Pots de Crème

16 oz cream
8 oz whole milk
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped, seeds reserved
7 oz sugar
1 1/2 ounces clean basil leaves
8 oz egg yolks, from about 10 eggs
1/4 tsp kosher salt

In a medium pot, combine the milk, cream and vanilla bean. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then shut off the heat. Cover and steep for one hour.

While the vanilla steeps, take a moment to prepare a water bath. Set a large pot of water on the stove to boil. You’ll also need a baking pan with tall sides (like a 9” x 13” brownie pan), a sieve and a piece of foil ready for later.

Next, grind the sugar and basil leaves together in the bowl of a food processor for about 2 minutes, or until the sugar has turned solid green and no traces of basil leaves remain. Put the egg yolks into a medium bowl, then whisk in the basil sugar, reserved vanilla seeds and salt. Since the sugar is wet and lumpy, it will take some vigorous whisking to fully incorporate.

When the steep time is up, preheat the oven to 300° and return the milk/cream to a simmer. Remove the vanilla pod (scraping out all of the wonderful vanilla goo inside) and carefully ladle some of the hot cream into into the eggs.

Repeat with another ladle-ful or two, until the egg mixture has warmed and become more fluid. Now whisk the warm egg mixture into the pot of milk/cream.

Turn the heat to medium low and cook the mixture, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula; don’t forget to scrape around the corners too. Keep stirring and cooking until the mixture becomes quite hot to the touch (about 140°).

Pour the mixture through the sieve into a medium bowl (since you will keep cooking the custard in the oven, it’s okay to reuse the bowl that contained the eggs). Portion the strained custard evenly between the ramekins and place them in the baking pan. Fill about 3/4 full with the prepared hot water. Cover the whole thing over with foil and carefully transfer to the preheated oven.

Bake for between 30-45 minutes, or until the custards have a gentle set. To test, jiggle a ramekin. There should not be any liquidy movement in the center. Keep baking until the custards are set through. It’s possible a few custards may finish cooking earlier than others (if one was slightly under-filled, for example), so don’t hesitate to remove them on a case-by-case basis.

Remove the custards from the oven and allow them to cool for about an hour. Then cover and refrigerate at least 6 hours, or until thoroughly chilled through.

These custards have a terrific shelf life and will keep, covered and refrigerated, for a week.

Serve with strawberry chantilly and a sprinkling of your favorite granola (I’ll post my recipe this weekend).

« Back to the Recipe Box

Any questions?