Earl grey tea ice cream

The British weather has been more than a little indecisive of late and I’m waking every morning unsure if I’ll be craving a hot cuppa or an ice lolly by early afternoon. Confused and exasperated by this state of affairs, I decided to make what I thought was the best of both worlds – a batch of tea ice cream from a recipe I found in one of my many files bulging with food mag tear-outs (I’ve no idea which publication it’s from… maybe ‘Style’?). It’s lovely eaten with rich tea fingers (as their blandness doesn’t compete with the delicate bergamot aroma), and is essentially the “tea and biccies” of summer.

Early Grey Tea Ice Cream

serves 4-6

5 earl grey tea bags

300ml (10.5 fl oz) milk

75g (6 tbsp) caster sugar

3 medium egg yolks

250g whipping cream

Heat the milk and tea bags in a small sauce pan and bring to just below the boil. Remove from heat and leave to infuse for 10 minutes, then strain.

In a large glass bowl whisk the egg yolks and sugar until it thickens and becomes pale and fluffy. Quickly whisk in a quarter of the flavoured milk, then the rest of the milk, stirring well to combine.

Place the bowl over a pan of simmering water (the base of the bowl should not touch the water) and leave to cook, stirring occassionally, until the mixture thickens. This should take 15-20 minutes.

Remove the bowl from heat and leave to cool to room temperature, then stir in the cream. pop in the fridge to chill.

Once chilled, churn in an ice cream machine until soft set. Spoon into a container and freeze for another couple of hours before serving.

Serve with rich tea biscuits or thin shortbreads.