Fig Leaf Ice Cream

A custard-style ice cream infused with toasted fig leaves, which give the cream a delicate fig and coconut-like aroma. Fresh figs and pistachios keep the final dish simple and seasonal.

Recipe

Ingredients

Ice cream base

• 2 oz fresh fig leaves, washed and dried
• 2½ cups heavy cream
• 1 cup full-fat milk
• ½ cup granulated sugar, divided
• 4 large egg yolks

For serving

• 1 pint fresh figs, quartered
• ¼ cup chopped pistachios

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 325°F. Toast the fig leaves directly on the center rack for about 8 minutes, until dry and fragrant but not burned.
2. Warm the milk, cream, and ¼ cup sugar over low heat. Crumble in the toasted leaves and keep warm for 5 minutes without letting the mixture boil.
3. Remove from heat, cover, and steep for at least 2 hours. For a stronger infusion, chill and steep overnight, up to 8 hours.
4. Strain the infused dairy into a clean saucepan and gently bring it back to a simmer.
5. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale. Slowly whisk in small amounts of hot cream to temper the yolks, then return everything to the saucepan.
6. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens enough to coat a spatula, about 15 minutes. Strain again.
7. Cool the base in an ice bath, then refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.
8. Churn in an ice cream machine until soft-serve texture, about 25–30 minutes. Transfer to a container and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.
9. Serve with quartered fresh figs and chopped pistachios.

Source

Recipe from Beyond Sweet & Savory by Vy Tran.

Sample Imagery

These images show the visual direction I am interested in for the final recipe site: pale cream, fig-leaf green, fresh figs, pistachios, and close-up process photography.

Photography and recipe by Vy Tran, Beyond Sweet & Savory.

Recipe Website Research

NYT Cooking

NYT Cooking has a clear hierarchy between photography, recipe information, ingredients, and instructions. I like that the page stays easy to scan even when the recipe itself is detailed, and I would like to keep that clarity in my final design.

Food52

Food52 gives food photography a lot of visual importance while keeping the recipe content straightforward. I like the balance between an editorial feeling and a page that is still practical to cook from.

Serious Eats

Serious Eats is useful for studying how longer techniques and processes are explained. Since this recipe includes steeping, chilling, churning, and freezing, its clear organization is a useful reference.

Non-Recipe Website Research

Are.na

I like how Are.na treats images and text as collected pieces of research rather than as one continuous article. That approach could help me organize process images and ingredient references in a simple way.

Kew Herbarium

The herbarium is useful as a reference for presenting plants as objects to study. I am interested in its straightforward labeling and documentation of botanical material, especially because the fig leaf is the unusual part of this recipe.

MACK

MACK gives images a lot of space and keeps its typography restrained. I like the simple image-led presentation and could use a similar level of restraint in the final recipe page.