Tea-scented ices are blissfully refreshing, and a smoky one offers an unusual, elegant twist on usual ice cream recipes.
Cooling, creamy and intensely fragrant, this green mint ice cream has a smoky swirl of lapsang souchong – the Chinese black tea – which brings an edge to the summer-fresh brightness of one of our favorite garden herbs.
The result? A grown-up ice cream that’s both refreshing and refined, and perfect for pairing following your favorite barbecue recipes.
Ingredients
- Serves 6-8
- 25.4 fl oz whole milk
- 1 oz lapsang souchong tea leaves
- 2 tbsp liquid glucose
- 2.1 oz fresh mint leaves (about 1.6 oz de-stalked)
- 3.5 oz vanilla sugar
- 3 eggs
- 2 tbsp flour
- 7.4 fl oz single cream
- 14 oz can condensed milk
The Homes & Gardens method
- Bring 16 oz of the milk to boiling point in a medium pan, add the tea leaves and stir vigorously. Turn off the heat, cover and leave to stand for 10 minutes.
- Strain through a sieve over a measuring jug, pressing the leaves to extract their flavor. Repeat for a second straining, then discard the leaves.
- Stir in the glucose and cool over ice. Pour 10 oz of the tea liquid into a food processor, add the mint and blitz until well chopped. Return this liquid to the jug.
- To make the custard base, whisk together the vanilla sugar, eggs and flour in a large heatproof jug.
- Bring the remaining milk and all the cream to the boil in a medium pan, then pour this onto the egg mixture and whisk for 30 seconds.
- Return the custard mix to the pan and cook over a medium heat, whisking constantly for one to two minutes or until it thickens. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the condensed milk.
- Cool the pan in iced water. Whisk in the tea liquid and chill. Pour into a chilled ice cream maker and churn until firm (20-25 minutes); or fast-freeze in a 1-litre freezer container (this lidded container from Amazon is our tried-and-trusted buy) for three hours.
- Remove and whisk briefly, then freeze for a further two hours.
- Soften for 10 minutes before serving.
This lapsang souchong and green mint ice cream looks pretty served up in tiny coupes with mint sprigs or 70%+ dark chocolate shavings on top. An almond or pistachio biscotti, roasted stone fruits, or fresh, summer fruits all make wonderful pairings, too.
