Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream

Sydney weather has been incredibly hot for the past couple of days, so I decided it was time to make some ice cream to cool myself down! Instead of the ordinary berry flavours I always turn to, I decided to become a bit more adventurous this time and make a batch with one of my favourite teas: Earl Grey. The result was fabulous and I can't believe I didn't make try this flavour sooner! There is nothing like an incredibly smooth ice cream scented with the lovely delicate aroma of ambrosial bergamot on a hot sunny afternoon.

Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream
Recipe: Adapted from Gourmet Traveller
Serves 4-6

2-2.5T loose Earl Grey tea leaves
300ml milk
250g whipping cream
70g caster sugar
3 egg yolks

Heat the milk, cream and tea leaves in a small saucepan until the mixture almost begins to boil.

Remove from heat and allow tea leaves to infuse for ten minutes, then strain.

In a separate medium-sized (heat resistant) bowl, whisk yolks with sugar until pale and fluffy.

Quickly whisk in a quarter of the strained cream mixture into the yolks, and then the rest of the mixture, stirring well to combine.

Place the bowl over a double boiler (make sure the base of the bowl does not touch the water) and leave to cook, stirring occasionally until the mixture thickens (~10-15 minutes). Once the mixture has a thick and velvety texture, remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Cover bowl with plastic wrap (with the wrap touching the surface of the cream to prevent the formation of a "skin") and chill for at least 2 hours, or even overnight.

Churn in an ice cream machine until soft set, then transfer into an air tight container to freeze for another couple of hours before serving.