Thai Tea Ice Cream

I had a surplus of egg yolks after making Japanese fluffy pancakes so my sister suggested I make Thai tea ice cream and I did. I used my base vanilla bean ice cream recipe (which is essentially how I make all my ice cream recipes) except I infused the dairy with a good heap of Thai tea mix.

The resultant ice cream had lovely spice and the creaminess perfectly mimicked the actual drink. The gorgeous orange color, speckled with bits of tea, makes for a lovely presentation. This ice cream would actually be amazing with berries, with a waffle a la mode, or in a macaroon cookie ice cream sandwich.

Ingredients [yields 2 to 3 pints]:
2 cups half & half
1 cup heavy cream

½ cup sugar

3 tablespoons Thai tea mix
4 egg yolks

½ cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Start by pouring the half & half and heavy cream into a pot with a ½ cup of sugar. Place over medium heat or until scalding. Then, pour in the tea and set aside to steep for ten minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk together egg yolks, ½ cup sugar, and salt until pale and thick.

Temper the yolk mixture with some of the Thai tea-steeped cream. Gently whisk and add more and more cream until all of it is incorporated.

Strain the mixture through a fine sieve back into the pot.

Heat the creme anglaise over low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard is thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Cool completely and then chill in the fridge.

Just before you're ready to churn the ice cream, stir in vanilla extract.

Make the ice cream according to the machine instructions and then spoon into an air tight container and chill in the freezer for 4 hours or until frozen and firmed up.

Scoop into bowls or into sugar cones and serve! I love the balance of flavors in Thai tea; it has a warm spiciness but is typically served cold so it's got that yin and yang thing going on and it's even more pronounced when it's in the form of ice cream. Plus, I think it's so aesthetically pleasing.

Here's the recipe page: