Earl Grey Ice Cream

It’s Friday night and I’m a ski widow. My neighbor Rebecca is in the same boat as me, so she and her dog Sadie are coming over for dinner and (lots of) wine. Rebecca is a vegetarian so I’m preparing a dinner of salad and a white bean & vegetable cassoulet from Cooking Light.  Since we are saving calories on the entrée, I figured why not make a decadent dessert? Martha never steers me wrong in the dessert category and I’m making Molten Chocolate Cakes served with Earl Grey Ice Cream. Perhaps a bottle of champagne will be uncorked as well?

I have the ice cream maker attachment for my Kitchen-Aid mixer and LOVE it. Maybe I love it a little bit too much if my tightish jeans are any indicator….

On a completely random note, Earl Grey was an answer to a Double Jeopardy question posed to me when I was a contestant on the show in 1998. Yes, I got it right.

Earl Grey Ice Cream

Makes about 5 cups

From Martha Stewart Living, February 2002

Note: Two tablespoons of loose tea leaves may be substituted for the tea bags in this recipe. If you use loose tea, you will need to strain the tea mixture before combining it with the egg yolks.

8 large egg yolks

½ cup sugar

2 cups milk

2 cups heavy cream

4 Earl Grey tea bags (I used Bigelow brand)

1. Prepare an ice bath and set aside.  Combine the egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat until pale yellow and very thick, 3 to 5 minutes.
2. Place the milk, cream and tea bags in a medium saucepan, and bring mixture to a boil. Remove from heat; cover, and let steep for 10 minutes. Remove the tea bags, and return the mixture to a boil. Gradually pour half of the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. (I do this very slowly and start with a spoonful at a time so as not to scramble the eggs.) Return the combined mixture to the saucepan.
3. Cook combined mixture over medium-low heat, whisking constantly (I just stirred with a silicone spatula until thickened), until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Strain the mixture into a bowl set in the ice bath, and chill completely. Freeze in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer’s instructions, until the ice cream just holds its shape. Transfer the ice cream to a metal loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours.

A photo of the ice cream with a Molten Chocolate Cake: