Ingredients
2 cups whole milk
1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch
1 1/2 oz (3 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cups sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
A large handful of fresh basil leaves, roughly torn into small pieces
1/3 cup Honey Pine Nut Pralines
PREP
Mix about 2 tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch in a small bowl to make a smooth slurry.
Whisk the cream cheese and salt in a medium bowl until smooth.
Fill a large bowl with ice and water.
COOK
Combine the remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4 quart saucepan. Bring to a rolling boil over medium-high heat and boil for exactly 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and gradually whisk in the cornstarch slurry.
Bring the mixture back to a boil over medium-high heat and cook stirring with a heatproof spatula, until slightly thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from the heat.
CHILL
Gradually whisk the hot milk into the cream cheese until smooth. Add the basil.
Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon ziploc bag and submerge the sealed bag in the ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as necessary, until cold, about 30 minutes.
FREEZE
Strain out the basil. Pour the ice cream base into the ice cream maker's frozen canister and spin until thick and creamy.
Pack the ice cream into a storage container, folding in the honey pine nut pralines as you go. Press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least four hours.