earl grey ice cream
July 16th, 2011
Look out. This may be my new favorite ice cream ever.
Seriously. I have always loved earl grey tea, and have even sampled a few different earl grey ice creams over the years, but I was stunned to find that my first attempt making it at home actually yielded my favorite results! SO delicious!
Granted, this recipe is definitely one to enjoy in moderation (no skimping on the half and half and cream here!), but oh my goodness. Every single bit is so worth it. It’s rich, creamy, subtly sweet, and has just the right strength of that classic earl grey flavor. It’s pretty much…heavenly.
I shared it with some friends to hear their opinions, and even those who weren’t huge earl grey fans immediately requested the recipe. Definitely a winner I plan to make again very soon. :)
Earl Grey Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups half and half (or 1 cup heavy cream & 1 cup half and half)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 6 Earl Grey tea bags
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
Method:
In a small saucepan, warm the milk, half and half, and sugar over medium-heat, stirring occasionally. Once the milk is steaming (but not boiling), remove pan from heat. Place the tea bags into the pan, cover and steep at room temperature for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove tea bags, then return to medium-heat.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla until frothy. Once the milk mixture is re-warmed, add 2 Tbsp. of the hot milk mixture to the eggs, and quickly whisk in until combined. Repeat 2-3 more times with more of the milk mixture, then gradually pour in the remainder of the milk mixture into the egg yolks and whisk quickly until combined.
Return the new milk/egg mixture to the saucepan, and cook over medium heat, stirring and scrapping the bottom of the pan constantly until the mixture thickens to a custard and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
Immediately strain through a fine-mesh strainer, and then refrigerate until completely cooled (at least 6-8 hours). Then freeze with an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Ali’s Tip:
This recipe would also be fun to try with your other favorite kinds of teas! Jasmine and cinnamon are two that come to mind…
Source: Adapted from Mac & Cheese.
This sounds really interesting. Thanks.
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I’ve always loved the flavour of tea in desserts. This sounds divine.
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Earl Grey iced cream has always been my favorite! When I lived in Boston, I used to weekly make a trek (by foot) to Harvard Square to Herrell’s, which had the most perfectly creamy, bergamot-y Earl Grey iced cream I’ve ever had. Sigh…
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You are pretty much my hero right now.
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This recipe would be delicious with green tea too. Thanks for sharing!
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I love this idea and can’t wait to try this recipe! I wonder if it would work sweetened with honey?
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Looks fantastic! I see some oolong tea ice cream in my near future!
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Very interesting! Never heard of this before…now I must try this!
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This looks and sounds delicious…I’ll definitely be making it soon!
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I scream for this ice cream!
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Ooh… I just love this idea. Sounds like an amazing ice cream flavor!
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Hello,
I am doing an end of summer ice cream round up on my own blog, All Day I Dream About Food, and would love to include this recipe. I would use one of your images, and link back to you, but I wouldn’t be posting the recipe directly. If you would like to be a part of it, please email me at carketch29 (at) yahoo (dot) com.
Thanks,
Carolyn
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This recipe is absolutely fantastic! I’d made an Earl Grey Gelato a few years back (I think I’d found the recipe in Cooking Light magazine) but lost the recipe and couldn’t find it online. This recipe is better than that one was! The only trouble is, it’s ruined us on store-bought ice cream. Nothing measures up to this!
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I made this the other day and it was unbelievable! So good, this was an instant favorite :)
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what is a half and half cream?
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