Description
This recipe comes together fairly quickly and easily using an ice cream maker. The flavor is authentic with freshly ground spices, black tea, and heavy cream.
Ingredients
- 12 green cardamom pods
- 10 black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon anise seeds
- 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 teaspoon table salt
- 3 black tea bags
- 6 egg yolks
- 8 oz granulated sugar
Instructions
- Grind all of the spices (cardamom pods, peppercorns, anise seeds, ginger, and cinnamon) to a powder using a spice grinder.
- Combine the milk and cream in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat until hot. Take the cream mixture off the heat.
- Add the spices and tea bags to the saucepan, cover, and set aside for 30 minutes.
- While that sits, whisk the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
- After 30 minutes, remove the tea bags and pour the milk mixture into the bowl with the yolks, whisking to combine.
- Pour the whole mixture back into the saucepan and reheat over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Continue to cook until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spatula. Make sure it does not come to a full boil.
- Remove from the heat and strain into a bowl. Cover the bowl and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4-5 hours, or overnight, until very cold.
- Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions to churn it. When it’s ready, scoop it into a container and smooth it into an even layer. Cover with plastic wrap tightly and freeze until firm.
- Enjoy!
Notes
If you don’t want to make your own chai spices, use chai tea bags instead of black tea bags. This will eliminate a few steps.
You can add 2 teaspoons of allspice to your spice mixture if you wish. This will add a warm, spicy flavor that accentuates the peppercorn and star anise flavors.
If you don’t have an ice cream maker, put the mixture in a loaf pan in the freezer instead of the refrigerator in step 7. After six hours, take it out, transfer it to a large bowl, and use an electric beater to mix the ice cream together for a few minutes. This will ensure a smooth, creamy product without ice crystals. Return it to the loaf pan, cover it with foil, and freeze until firm.