Is everyone else as obsessed with thai iced tea as we are? It is so cold, creamy, flavorful and delicious. It seems so obvious as an ice cream flavor, but it isn’t one you often see. I had a huge bag of thai tea mix in my pantry, so I decided to make some. You can get thai tea mix from Asian markets or on Amazon. Here is the mix I use:
You can use this mix to make both the tea to drink, and the base for ice cream. One bag makes a ton of tea because it is very strong, so it is very economical. Homemade ice cream is so easy and so much fun to make. I love being able to just try out whatever flavors and combination ideas my kids come up with. I have a relatively inexpensive little Cuisinart ice cream maker. As long as you chill the cannister properly, it works great. I’ve had it for many years and I love it.
I doubled this recipe because whenever I make ice cream, it gets eaten so fast someone is usually complaining they didn’t get any, so making two batches helps. The cannister on this ice cream maker churns fast enough that I can get through 2 batches without having to refreeze the cannister. We found this to be slightly too strong on the tea flavor, so I would reduce the tea to 3/4 cup next time. The texture is really smooth and the sweetness level is perfect though. I will definitely use this recipe again with slight adjustments.
To make the ice cream:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 pinch of salt
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 cup thai iced tea mix (I will use 3/4 cup next time)
- 2 egg yolks
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1 14 oz can condensed milk
Gently heat the cream, milk, salt and tea to almost simmering. Do not boil. Take off the heat and let it steep for about 20-30 minutes (I will reduce this to 10-15 min next time). Strain out the tea and return the mixture to cleaned pot. Whisk the egg yolks in a heat safe bowl. Reheat the dairy until slightly steaming and add a few tbsp a time to the yolks while whisking to temper them. Slowly add the yolk mixture back to the pot and stir with a heat proof spatula, scraping the bottom, until the mixture thickens enough to coat the spatula. Remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and condensed milk. Pour through a strainer in case there are any small bits of cooked yolk. Cover with plastic wrap on the surface, and chill overnight. Churn according to your ice cream maker instructions and store in the freezer.