Earl Grey Ice Cream

Gelato alla crema con tè Earl Grey

For my latest batch of ice cream, I wanted to do a new flavour, but not simply by adding in something else into my usual recipe, and I wanted to experiment with a custard based ice cream for a change. Eventually it dawned on me that I should try making some tea-infused ice cream, because I love tea-flavoured treats, and what better a flavour to use when first making rich, custard-based ice cream than cream of earl grey tea. Making tea-infused ice cream adds a little extra time on to the ice cream making process, but it is worth it. The result was essentially a london fog, but ice cream. It was divine. And I used my coveted vanilla bean paste, so there are elegant specks of vanilla bean throughout the ice cream. As with any good food, words cannot quite describe the experience. I would recommend simply making it, if you like ice cream, and like earl grey tea. That way you can see for yourself.

Gelato alla crema con tè Earl Grey

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups whole milk

2/3 cup heavy cream

3 rounded tbsp loose cream of earl grey tea, stapled shut in a tea bag. (Or 4 bags of earl grey tea)

3 egg yolks

3/4 cup sugar

Directions:

1. Put the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat and heat until it reaches just below the boiling point. Remove from the heat, add the tea into the hot cream and milk mixture, and let steep for 10 minutes, or until infused. Return to the heat, and bring back to just below the boiling point. Meanwhile, mix the egg yolks and sugar in a heat-proof bowl, until well blended.
2. Pour about half of the hot tea into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to properly blend it together. Pour this mixture back into the hot tea in the saucepan, and heat to 185-degrees F, stirring, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (185-degrees). Do not let the custard boil. 
3. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the custard back into the heatproof bowl. Stand this bowl in a larger bowl filled with ice water (an ice bath), and stir over the ice bath until fully cooled, being careful not to let any of the water get into the ice cream mixture. 
4. When the custard is cool, churn it in an ice-cream maker, and let freeze a few hours further or overnight before serving, to ensure it is fully frozen and cold when you serve it.

Enjoy!