You're HOT! - Eat some Lemon Basil Ice Cream
Yes, you’re hot! I’m hot. It’s hot. We’re all hot! Everyone’s sweating. She’s hot for him. He’s hot for them. It’s too hot to walk the dogs. That place is hot with no AC! France feels like it’s on fire. It’s too hot in the kitchen. And we all need to cool down!
Personally, I need a pool and ice cream when it’s this hot. But it’s tough to communicate my level of heat, where the hotness is coming from, and to whom its directed at en Francais. A casual comment of ‘I’m so hot’, could be taken out of context and met with French confusion (…oh lala).
Let’s break it down. Je suis means ‘I am’, J’ai means ‘I have’, and chaud means ‘hot.’ Simple and basic right? Nope! My most important takeaway while learning French has been to just learn French. Not to try and directly translate everything from English.
If you want to say ‘I’m hot’, as in I need a fan, lemonade, and a cold shower stat you wouldn’t use the phrase Je suis chaud (or chaude feminine). Unless of course you are also hot and bothered and sexually aroused. But if it’s the hottest part of the day and you need some shade it’s better to say J’ai chaud (I have heat) instead of I want sex. Or J’ai trés chaud (I’m very hot) after riding my bike through the city in this heat!
Je suis chaud, can also mean ‘I’m up for it’ (let’s get a drink) or ‘I’m killing it’ (like winning a game) without being sexual. And though most French people know what you mean if you make a mistake, or they’ll quickly correct you, I repeat to myself “I have heat = J’ai chaud” before speaking.
Here’s a few more phrases for heat and hotness I’m using to get through l’été (the summer) in France:
chaud (m.) sounds like ‘show’ | chaude (f.) sounds like ‘showde’
il fait chaud = it is hot
il fait si chaud ici = it’s so hot here
est-il chaud ? = is it hot? (I love that a ? and ! , get an extra space ? in French)
le chien a trop chaud = the dog is too hot (overheated)
tu es canon = you're hot, you look hot, you're so hot (you’re sexy)
ils sont aussi canons = they look so hot, (plural good looking people)
Most importantly whether you’re talking about the temperature or flirting with someone this summer, you really need to know the phrase J’ai besoin de glace, I need ice cream ! Allons chercher de la crème glacée ! (let’s get ice cream) is the sexiest phrase anyone could say to me right now.
I usually order two scoops of pistacho with or without a cornet. But there’s something special about lemon that instantly chills the sweat running down my back. On a recent trip to the beaches of Arcachon I waited every day for lemon basil ice cream, even when the line was packed with bachelorette parties. I didn’t budge, not even when a bride-to-be tried to hand my husband a potato. What that meant, we’ll never know. There was ice cream to be had and we ne comprenons pas.
And again at the incredibly smoldering Fête le Vin in Bordeaux, I tucked my wine glass into a sack around my neck several times to savor frozen basilic citron cream instead.
Not sorbet, though it is quite refreshing. I’m referring to real French custard ice cream, using egg yolks with heavy cream that’s churned in an ice cream maker. It’s not real ice cream or really even summer if I don’t hear the background motor humm of a machine. I’ll always be ‘team churn’, sorry to all the sweetened condensed milk fans.
Lemon basil ice cream is smooth, creamy, lemony with a hint of basil, and just what you need to cool your canon self down ! Grab some fresh basil, a few lemons, cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla. Go ahead and put the ice cream machine bucket in the freezer so it’s ready once the base is chilled.
I like to use a thermometer when making ice cream, though you can get away without it. Just be careful not to cook the eggs in the custard. Steep the basil in the dairy first then remove it, for little green bits you can blitz a few fresh leaves in with a blender before churning.
On the note of curdling dairy with citrus, I’ve tested adding the lemon juice to the base in two different ways. Either make a lemon syrup to pour into the machine while the base is churning, or just stir the plain lemon juice directly into the base after it’s been cooked with the eggs before chilling. My batches have not curdled and both have delicious lemon flavor kissed with basil.
Stay cool mes amis, and let me know how you like the flavor of Lemon Basil Ice Cream.
Citron Basilic Ice Cream
Ingredients
Lemon Syrup
160 grams (2/3 cup) fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (don’t need if just using lemon juice)
Ice Cream Base
133 grams (2/3 cup) granulated sugar
500 grams (2 cups) heavy cream
250 grams (1 cup) whole milk
2 tablespoons honey
1 small bundle (1.5 cups) fresh Basil leaves, packed and no stems
3 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest, divided (use a microplane)
5 large egg yolks
1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
pinch of flaky sea salt
Instructions
Lemon Syrup
Place lemon juice and sugar in a small saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat, stir until the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat and refrigerate the thin syrup until chilled.
Steep the Basil
Add the milk, cream, sugar, and honey in a medium heavy bottom saucepan, bring to a simmer. Remove pan from the heat, stir in the basil leaves, and 2 tablespoons of lemon zest. Let steep for 1 hour. (stir occasionally to prevent a skin from forming)
Ice Cream Base
Set a mesh wire sieve over a large bowl, near the stove.
Place the egg yolks in a medium bowl, whisk and set them next to the stove.
Scoop the basil out of the cream with a slotted spoon and return the sauce pan to medium-low heat, stirring occasionally.
When the temperature of the cream reaches 113℉ (45℃) on instant thermometer, slowly pour in the egg yolks while continuously whisking. The temperature is low enough that the eggs can be tempered directly into the sugared cream. OR you can ladle out 1 cup (250 grams) of the hot cream and slowly drizzle it into the bowl of yolks while whisking, then pour that mixture back into the saucepan while whisking to temper the eggs.
Now that the egg yolks have been added to the cream, continue to occasionally stir and cook the custard base until it reaches between 170-180℉ (76-82℃) on the thermometer. Stir continuously with a whisk or silicone spatula to prevent over-cooking the custard at the bottom of the saucepan.
The ice cream base is cooked when it reaches the desired temperature, when it coats the back of a spoon and you can easily draw a line through the custard with your finger tip.
Immediately remove the pan from heat and strain the custard through a wire mesh sieve into a large bowl to catch any leftover zest or possible cooked egg.
Stir in the salt, vanilla and extra tablespoon of lemon zest. Let the base cool at room temperature, with an occasional stir. (stir in the lemon juice or wait until churning)
Place a piece of plastic wrap directly onto the custard and refrigerate until chilled through, about 3 hours. Or leave it in the fridge overnight.
Churn and Freeze
Pour the cold base into to your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. While churning pour in the lemon syrup if you haven’t already. My machine usually takes around 25-28 minutes.
Spoon into a lidded container and freeze for several hours before scooping.
Since this ice cream has a 2:1 ratio of cream to milk, it will be very creamy and easy to scoop. Place the frozen container in the fridge for about 5 minutes then scoop.
JENN. J’adore cette post! The little French lesson = hysterical (and useful.) and THIS is a recipe I will actually make. Reste au frais and Merci bien, to you and Google Translate.🙂
Crazy weather everywhere. Ice cream is always the answer😊