If you’re reading this, you probably love tea. Unless you hate sweets or cold things, you probably love ice cream. So… how about tea ice cream?
We’re not talking about some cheaply made, overly sweet stuff you paid too much for just because it’s a frozen, imported product. I’m talking about making the good stuff at home. It’s about as easy as making ice cream ever is, but the effort is oh-so-very worth it.
How to Make Tea Ice Cream
1. Select your tea. Anything that’s good as a tea latte is good as an ice cream. Some others will work, too.
2. Select an ice cream recipe as a base. * Vanilla ice cream recipes are the simplest to alter. If you want to get more creative with it, you can select a more complex flavor that pairs with your tea, like strawberry for Nishi Sencha Green Tea or chocolate for English Breakfast Black Tea.
3. Warm your cream or non-dairy alternative to your tea’s brewing temperature.
4. Infuse 3-4 teaspoons of tea in your cream or non-dairy cream for about 5 minutes.
5. Strain and chill.
6. Make the ice cream according to your recipe, replacing the cream/non-dairy alternative with your creamy tea infusion. Consider making it with slightly less sweetener and flavor (vanilla extract, cocoa powder, etc.) than the recipe calls for – it will get extra flavor from the tea.
Ice Cream Mix-Ins
If you want to get more creative with tea ice cream, you can add ingredients to the infusion or you can add mix-ins to your ice cream once it’s semi-solid. Try infusing organic rose petals with Samovar Moorish Mint or orange zest with Samovar Breakfast Blend.
For mix-ins, try crystallized ginger bits with Samovar Masala Chai, or fruit jam mixed into Tart Peach Black Tea ice cream just before it’s done.
If all of this sounds like a dream to you, but you have the feeling you’ll never have time to actually do it–not a problem! Use an electric spice grinder or coffee grinder to grind your tea into a powder and blend it into slightly softened ice cream. Or try a dash of matcha (powdered Japanese green tea).
Tea Simple Syrup
If you have time to cook, but don’t have an ice cream maker, you can make tea simple syrup (recipe below) and drizzle it over your ice cream. Here’s how:
Ingredients:
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
2 Tbsp loose leaf tea
Instructions:
1. Infuse 1-2 teaspoons of tea leaves in 8 oz. of boiling water for 3 minutes (use water below the boil, around 170 degrees, for green teas).
2. Strain the tealeaves.
3. Bring the tea to a boil.
4. Add the sugar.
5. Keep at a low boil, stirring often, until the mixture has become one cup of smooth syrup.
6. Chill.
7. Keep refrigerated in a sealed container and use within one month.
You can also use tea simple syrups for instant tea “sodas” and cocktails/mocktails, or as toppings for fruit salads, cakes and other sweet foods. Depending on the tea, it could even work as a sort of chutney/sweet marinade alternative for meats or tofu!
This post wraps up our series on ways to enjoy cold tea in hot weather. If you missed previous posts, check out the others on iced tea lattes, tea punches, iced tea, cold-brewed tea and frozen tea treats.