RECIPE: Holiday Magic Ice Cream

RECIPE: Holiday Magic Ice Cream

Oh-la-la!
My, oh my!
Santa Claus got
Holiday chai . . .
ICE CREAM!

   Have you ever had ice cream made from tea? Done well, it is something very, very special.

Over the holidays, I got creative with some of our loose leaf teas. The Pearamel Delight tea that we featured in November made a nice palate-cleansing token to share between meal courses; however, our Holiday Magic chai was a show-stopper as an ice cream!

How to Order Holiday Magic chai – WhiteRoseManor.com

Our annual High Tea featured a tasting of this rich, creamy, churned ice cream to see how it would be received. It was an overwhelming success! Special thanks to our new friend, Desma Hart, for loaning me an ice cream maker for the “test kitchen”. I assure you, we will be returning the ice cream maker with a quart of freshly-churned Holiday Magic.

If you have never made homemade ice cream, I believe everyone should do it at least once. That said, I have a simple recipe that you can use to make your own churned ice cream, whether you choose to incorporate our tea or use your own (FYI, Matcha makes a great ice cream, too!). This recipe is for a churned ice cream, so be prepared to “kick the can” of ice and salt for an hour or so, or use an ice cream maker.

UTENSILS RECOMMENDED:
Stove and potholders
Ice cream maker (or small coffee can with lid that fits into a larger coffee can with lid)
One-quart plastic or glass container with lid
Measuring spoons
Measuring cups (2 cups works well)
Stovetop Bain-Marie or double boiler
Tea sieve/strainer
Egg separator (unless you can do it by hand)
Whisk for egg yolks
Wooden spoon for constantly stirring during cooking time
Metal spoon for verifying cooking consistency

Holiday Magic Ice Cream Recipe

Yield: Approximately 1 Qt.
Category: Dairy, Sweet, Dessert, Gluten-free
Difficulty: Moderate to easy
Time to Make: 2 days (includes steeping)
24 hours steeping, 20 minutes cooking, 4 hours cooling, 30 minutes churning, 8 hours hardening

INGREDIENTS:
2 C. Cream, heavy whipping
1 C. Milk, whole
3/4 C. Sugar, granulated – divided (1/4 cup, 1/2 cup)
6 Tbs. White Rose Manor Holiday Magic loose leaf tea (BUY)
1/2 tsp. Salt, table
6 ea. Egg, yolks only (room temperature, if possible)

Day 1:
Step 1 – Steeping the Base Cream
Steep the tea in a one-quart container with tight lid by mixing heavy whipping cream and loose tea. Seal container with lid, then stir/shake well. This will become your base cream.

Step 2 – Monitoring Time
Place base cream in the refrigerator for 24-48 hours, stirring/shaking two times per day.

Day 2 or 3:
Depending on how long you steep the tea, this day is when you cook the cream.

Step 3 – Preparing the Bain-Marie
Using a stove top Bain-Marie (double boiler), add water to the base of the Bain-Marie (water ‘bath’) until just below the top part when inserted. Do not immerse upper part into the water.

Step 4 – Egg/Sugar Mixture
In two small bowls, separate egg yolks from whites. Refrigerate egg whites for other uses. To the yolks, stir in 1/4 cup of the sugar reserving the remaining 1/2 cup for cooking with the Base Cream.

Step 5 – Cooking the Base Cream
Strain cream through a tea sieve (fine metal mesh) into the upper part of the Bain-Marie. Add the one cup of whole milk, part of the sugar (1/2 cup), and salt. Stir well.

Time-saver Tip
Wash and rinse the one-quart container and lid to reuse to store the finished ice cream.

Step 6 – Cooking the Base Cream or “Custard”
Much of this process is really like making a custard.
With the Bain-Marie assembled and base cream in the upper portion, begin heating the water bath to a boil, constantly stirring the base cream with a wooden spoon. To keep from scorching, gently stir all portions of where the cream touches the pan. When sugar is dissolved, reduce heat to simmer.

When the base cream begins to produce steam on the top, it is ready increase the temperature and add the egg yolks (without cooking them). To avoid cooking the eggs, bring them up to the base cream temperature by gradually adding the heated base cream to the yolks, a spoonful at a time. Adding slowly, constantly stir to blend well and thoroughly warm. The gradual addition of the heated cream will slowly make the egg yolks as warm as the cream so they can be added to the Bain-Marie without cooking the eggs. Using egg yolks that are room temperature hastens the tempering process.

When the egg mixture is warm. Slowly stir the egg mixture into the remaining base cream (in Bain-Marie) and continue to cook to 165 degrees F (for safe egg consumption) and thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. When you can draw your finger through the mixture on the metal spoon and it leaves a trough/gap, the mixture is ready for Step 7.

Step 7 – Finalizing the “Custard”
Strain the cooked mixture into the one-quart container and refrigerate for four hours or more.

Step 8 – Churning the “Custard”
Using your best method to churn the custard into ice cream, the ice cream will be soft-serve ready once churning is complete. Freeze for two hours or more for a harder ice cream.

Serving Suggestions:

This flavour stands alone, but we also found it is a great complement to apple and crapple pies. My husband is ready to put it in his coffee. I will let you know how that is. Making a new batch now, so we have some more. 😊 Enjoy!