Since pastry cream is quite sweet, basil-infused pastry cream is most easily used in a sweet application. Think of it like basil or lavender ice cream — they're flavored with herbs but still sweet like a dessert. You could make a strawberry tart like the one that's pictured and fill it with basil pastry cream. Use a recipe like this Citrus Scented Tart Dough to make the base. Blind bake it and then fill it with pastry cream and garnish as you wish. It tastes fresh and interesting. You could also fill cream puffs with a basil pastry cream and then top them off with a lemon glaze. Lemon and herbs are a fabulous combination! We'd recommend avoiding pairing the basil pastry cream with chocolate because the flavors might clash, but other than that, let your imagination run wild! Kye@KAF

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