Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

41 comments - 11.11.2022

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Lest you think this is turning into a blog about obscure, leafy ingredients, you might be right. But when I sniffed the very fragrant leaves of lemon verbena, or verveine, growing at a friend’s house near Nice (where we were staying a few years ago), she told me to take as much as I wanted home, and I dove for the clippers. Almost as soon as I got home, to preserve the bounty, I churned up a batch of lemon verbena ice cream.

French people drink infusions and tisanes after dinner, which in English, we call “herbal teas.” But in France, what they call “tea” (thé) has black tea in it. Infusions and tisanes are made with herbs or other botanicals, and they use everything from camomile flowers to cherry stems, but no black tea.

One exception is North African-style mint tea, which is called thé à la menthe by one and all, and while it usually has some green tea in it, I can’t figure out the differentiation between “tea” made with leaves and “infusion”…also made with leaves.

But it’s funny to see visitors from my motherland try the explain to café waiters that they want “lemon verbena tea” because French people have no idea what they’re talking about. (I shouldn’t laugh; it’s a position I’ve been in, too.) So I’m not picking on anyone.

What I am picking now, however, is fresh lemon verbena from my own garden in Paris. it grows well here and Romain loves using verveine to make infusions for after dinner, although being a glacier (ice cream maker), I can’t resist using it in ice cream.

I’ve updated the recipe recently, adding a few swipes of fresh lemon zest, which I infuse with the leaves, and add a few drops of lemon juice at the end, to brighten and highlight the lemon flavor of the leaves.

Lemon verbena ice cream is great paired with another ice cream or sorbet, such as apricot or lemon sorbet, but it’s also lovely served with poached pears as well.

Lemon Verbena Ice Cream

A delicious, refreshing ice cream made from fresh lemon verbena

Course Dessert

Servings servings

1 3/4 cups (15-18g) gently packed fresh lemon verbena leaves
1 1/2 cups (375ml) whole milk
1 1/2 cups (375ml) heavy cream
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
pinch of salt
1 lemon
6 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon very finely chopped dried or fresh lemon verbena leaves, to crumble in the just-churned ice cream

In a medium saucepan, warm the lemon verbena leaves with the milk, 1/2 cup (125ml) of the cream, the sugar, a pinch of salt, and a few swipes of grated lemon zest.
Once warm, remove from heat, cover, and let steep for one hour. (For more flavor, you can let it steep in the refrigerator for up to 8 hours.)
To make the ice cream custard, pour the remaining cream into a large bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water, and put a mesh strainer on top.
Use a strainer or slotted spoon to skim the lemon verbena from the cream & milk mixture and squeeze the leaves to extract as much liquid as possible back into the saucepan, then discard them. Rewarm the lemon verbena-infused cream & milk.
In a separate bowl, whisk the eggs together in a small bowl and slowly pour in the warm infusion, whisking constantly.
Scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan and cook, stirring continuously with a heatproof spatula over medium heat, until the custard leaves a trail on the spatula when you drag your finger across it. (If using a thermometer, it should read about 175ºF, or 79ºC.)
Immediately strain the custard into the bowl of cream. Stir until cool.
Chill thoroughly. Squeeze a few drops of lemon juice into the ice cream base then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When done, stir the finely-chopped dried or fresh lemon verbena leaves into the churned ice cream.