Ice Cream Delirium

Part of my ice cream adventures have been to master one that doesn't crystallize before you can have your next bite. As a result, I have discovered the secret to the most velvety and seductive ice cream. Ever. This base has a mouth feel that you can only experience for yourself. I'll do my best to explain (without shorting out the keyboard from drooling). Your experience may be quite different. And I'm not responsible for resulting food coma and/or egg and cream shortage in your pantry. I made a batch for a birthday party and promptly ate it. All of it. I had to make another batch.

Let's discuss ice cream. Specifically, Earl Grey ice cream. I wanted to try something different, something mild, sophisticated, simple yet complex, and bottom line: delicious. I succeeded. This ice cream is a cross between a cup of tea and a spoonful of clouds and hugs. It's thick and creamy, light and delicate. If satin could be a taste, I think this might be it. While I have a soft spot (mainly my thighs) for chunky, crunchy-topping filled ice cream slathered in hot fudge and butterscotch, there's something so deliriously satisfying about a dish of this. It's unobtrusive, sleek and if ice cream could be, polite.

You can control the strength of the Earl Grey flavor based on how long you steep and how much tea you use. I haven't tried yet, but I'm sure this would also work well for all other kinds of tea. Chai and Jasmine come to mind...

The base, sans the tea, can be used for anything. Add a vanilla bean, add cocoa powder, add any kind of flavoring. You may need to experiment a bit as liquids obviously add more volume and may damper the custard making. But it's a flexible base and so good. You could also just make the base and top it with anything your ice cream loving heart desires. There's nothing wrong with that!

Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream
makes about 1 quart

1 cup whole milk
2 cups heavy cream
2 tbs. dry non-fat milk (this is the oh-so-secret trick to smooth and dreamy ice cream!)
3/4 cup sugar
5-6 tea bags (or fewer, or more, whatever you'd like)
5 egg yolks (bring them to room temperature. It works better this way)

Warm the milk, cream, dry milk and sugar in a saucepan. Remove from heat, place tea bags in the pan, cover and steep at room temperature for an hour. Remove tea bags. Do your best to keep your spoon out of this. I mean, what could possibly be wrong with cream and sugar infused with the glorious, ethereal Earl Grey tea?

Set up an ice bath - large bowl filled with ice, medium bowl that fits nicely on top of the ice. This is to chill the mixture before putting it in the machine. May seem unnecessary, but it really helps. You ever notice that the ice cream takes forever to churn, the stuff on the sides of the maker turns into ice cubes, and it never really sets right? Yeah. Use an ice bath.

Rewarm tea-infused milk. Whisk egg yolks together in a separate bowl. Slowly pour the milk mixture into the bowl with egg yolks, whisking constantly. This is called tempering. If you have your whisk going with one hand and pour veeeeerrrrryyyyy slowly with the other, you won't end up with scrambled eggs. Everyone cautions cooks about scrambled eggs in their custards - don't be scared, don't think you can't do it, just be mindful of what you're doing.

Return the milk and 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 spatula.

Cool the mixture over the ice bath and freeze in your ice cream maker. Serve with a big spoon, in a big bowl and I went the extra step to serve with shortbread cookies. Mm. I made my own, recipe will be soon to follow, but you can buy them. I won't judge.

Tips, Tricks, etc.

- Use the dry milk! Seriously! You can make this without it, but honestly, why screw with a good thing? It keeps well in your pantry, use it in all your ice cream endeavors, use it in sticky buns. There's no excuse.

- Be patient with the custard, but keep a close eye on it. Also do your best not to just eat it straight out of the bowl. I'm contemplating a pastry with this as it's cream...

- If you do this on a whim and your eggs are in the fridge, pull them out and set into a bowl of warm water. There is less chance of tempering going wrong with room temp. eggs.

- If you're going to add crunchy bits (cookie bits, nuts, whatever) to this ice cream or any other you make, wait until the very last moment to add them. Also, don't chop too finely. The churning blade with crush up everything a bit more and you don't want to end up with a deliriously good ice cream with cookie mush.