Chai Spice Ice Cream

The weather is getting cooler and cooler and I love it. Autumn is my favorite season because I love the weather, the lack of humidity, and the food. Everyone thinks about pumpkin spice this and that but I love chai tea. It's my go-to drink in the cooler months. And it turns out, it makes a fabulous ice cream flavor. And yes, you can still enjoy this frozen treat even when it's cold outside. It's delicious!

This ice cream is perfect for serving up with apple pie (hint: I will be sharing an apple pie recipe v. soon). I'm not going to go super into detail with this post because I shared all of the nitty gritty bits that go into ice cream making in my vanilla bean ice cream post.

Ingredients:
2 cups half & half
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup + ½ cup sugar
1 vanilla bean
1 tablespoon chai tea blend (I love McNulty's)
1 cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods
4 egg yolks
½ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

As you can see, the only difference between this recipe and the vanilla bean ice cream recipe is the addition of the chai tea blend, cinnamon stick, and cardamom.

Add the scraped vanilla bean, 1/2 cup of sugar, and chai tea blend to the dairy and heat just until scalding. Add in the cinnamon stick and cardamom pods and let them steep for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, whip up the egg yolks with 1/2 cup of sugar and salt until light and fluffy. Strain the cream mixture and temper the egg yolks. Return the ice cream base to the sauce pan with the cinnamon stick and heat it up over a low flame, stirring continuously until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain out the cinnamon stick and chill the mixture overnight.

Add the ice cream base to your ice cream maker and make the ice cream, according to the ice cream maker's instructions. Pack into freezer-safe containers and let the ice cream harden for a few hours.

Scoop and serve and marvel at this lovely spiced ice cream. It tastes just like a chai tea latte, except cold and creamy. It's awesome.

Here's the recipe page: