Strawberry Ice Cream, Basil Purée

Ripe strawberries go beautifully with basil, mellowed by a light and creamy fromage frais mousse. This intriguing recipe by Adam Simmonds that requires a good amount of preparation and planning ahead. Strawberry Boiron purée, ultratex, xylotol and trimoline are all available to buy online.

Ingredients

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Strawberry ice cream

350g of Boiron strawberry purée
80ml of milk
2 egg yolks
10g of trimoline
50g of xylitol
8g of glycerine

Strawberry tuille

40g of freeze-dried strawberries
50g of caster sugar
40ml of glucose syrup
5g of butter

Basil gel

75g of basil leaves
75ml of stock syrup
3g of ultratex

Fromage frais mousse

48g of fromage frais
100g of sugar
1 pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
10ml of UHT whipping cream
0.25g of gelatine

Strawberry soup

400g of strawberries
10g of sugar
0.5g of black pepper
22ml of water

Strawberry jelly

0.5g of agar agar
0.5g of sugar
1g of gelatine

To plate

1 handful of basil leaves
28 whole almonds

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Piping bag 1-2cm nozzle
Ice cream maker
Blender
Thermometer

For the strawberry ice cream, mix the yolks, xylitol and trimoline together. Put the milk and 200g of Boiron purée into a suitable sized pan and bring to the boil. Pour onto the egg mix while whisking. Return to a clean pan and cook to 76°C to make the base custard. Cool over ice. Mix in the remaining 150g of Boiron purée and glycerin. Put into an ice cream maker to churn

8g of glycerine
10g of trimoline
2 egg yolks
50g of xylitol
350g of Boiron strawberry purée
80ml of milk

When frozen, churn and allow to firm up slightly. Place into a piping bag with a 1 ½ cm diameter nozzle and pipe long tubes on a frozen board. Cut into 2 ½ cm pieces when frozen. Store in freezer until required

To make the strawberry tuille, cook the caster sugar and glucose in a pan to 150°C. Then stir in the butter and pour onto a silicone baking mat and leave to cool

50g of caster sugar
5g of butter
40ml of glucose syrup

Blitz together the strawberries and caramel, and dust thinly on a baking mat. Melt in a warm oven. This tuille will burn easily so cover with silicone paper when in the oven. Roll out between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper when cooked

40g of freeze-dried strawberries

For the basil gel, blanch the basil in boiling salted water, then chill in iced water. Squeeze out all the excess liquid and put into a blender with the stock syrup, then blitz and pass through a sieve. Weigh out 65g of the gel and whisk in the Ultratex. Leave to rest for 10 minutes and re-whisk

75g of basil leaves
75ml of stock syrup
3g of ultratex

To make the fromage frais mousse, soak the gelatine in cold water. Dissolve the sugar in a small pan with a little water and cook to 121°C. When the syrup reaches 118°C start whisking the egg yolks with an electric whisk

3 egg yolks
100g of sugar
0.25g of gelatine

Pour the syrup over the egg yolks whilst whisking. Whisk until cold. Warm 4ml of the UHT Cream in a small pan, drain the gelatine, add to the cream and mix thoroughly. Put the fromage frais into a bowl and beat. Add the cream to the fromage frais. Weigh out 5g of the bombe mix and add to the above. Season with a pinch of salt. Lightly whisk the rest of the cream to form a soft peak, then put into a piping bag

10ml of UHT whipping cream
48g of fromage frais
1 pinch of salt

To make the strawberry soup, cut the strawberries into quarters, add the sugar and marinade for 10 minutes. Place into a suitable sized pan and add the water. Clingfilm the pan and place on the stove and bring to the boil. Cook until the strawberries start to collapse. Remove from the heat and allow to cool. Pass through a fine sieve; do not push through, allow to fall through naturally. Taste, adding extra sugar and black pepper if needed, depending on the ripeness of the strawberries

400g of strawberries
10g of sugar
22ml of water
0.5g of black pepper

For the strawberry jelly, mix the agar agar and sugar together. Soak the agar agar in quarter of the soup for 20 minutes. Soak the gelatine in cold water. Place the soup with the agar agar on the stove and bring to a rapid boil for 3 seconds. Remove from the stove. Add the drained gelatine and mix thoroughly. Set in a suitable tray or mould

0.5g of agar agar
0.5g of sugar
1g of gelatine

To serve, cool 4 plates in a fridge or freezer. Crush some of the tuille and sprinkle around the centre of the plate. Pipe varying sized dots of fromage frais mousse and basil gel around the centre of the plate. Place approximately 9 wild strawberries in random places – on and in between the fromage frais and basil gel

With a teaspoon, take small nuggets of the strawberry jelly and place randomly around the plate. Repeat with peeled halves of green almonds and basil leaves. When ready to serve, put seven pieces of the piped ice cream around and on the garnish

1 handful of basil leaves
28 whole almonds

First published in 2015

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Adam Simmonds

Beneath the surface of Adam Simmond’s dishes is highly original, thoughtful cooking.

Strawberry ice cream, basil purée, fromage frais mousse with green almonds

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