Easy Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream Recipe
Enjoy your favorite morning pick-me-up as a decadent and creamy dessert with this recipe for Earl Grey Ice Cream. Tip: You can use loose leaf tea, or tea bags to make this earl grey ice cream recipe.
Earl Grey Tea has such a rich, earthy, herbal flavor. This grown-up ice cream flavor is all about the balance between the flavor of the tea and the subtle sweetness of the custard ice cream. This ice cream with earl grey tea leaves reminds me a little of a frozen London fog latte.
Yes, you can make ice cream flavored with Earl Grey Tea! You can also make Matcha ice cream (green tea ice cream), hot chocolate ice cream, and coffee ice cream. Ice cream lovers who like tea ice creams will love all of these.
Why You’re Going to Love This Recipe
- It’s Unique: You might see Earl Grey ice cream on the menu board at a specialty creamery or ice cream shop, but you certainly won’t find this gourmet ice cream flavor at the supermarket or grocery store. We have many recipes just like this. Try Rosemary Ice Cream or Black Licorice Ice Cream if you like to be adventurous.
- Rich and Creamy: French-style ice creams like this one start with a custard base that’s made with egg yolks and heavy cream. It’s decadent and amazing.
- Simple Ingredients: There’s nothing too fancy in this easy recipe. I expect that if you’re a tea drinker, you probably already have the Earl Grey teabags and honey at home. This recipe uses natural ingredients.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Egg Yolks – These add richness, and form the structure of the custard ice cream base.
- Sugar and Honey – Cane sugar adds most of the sweetness while honey adds an earthy flavor that we all love with tea.
- Milk and Cream – Use heavy cream and whole milk to make the most delicious and creamy ice cream recipe.
- Earl Grey Tea – To pull the flavor from the tea, we’ll steep lose tea leaves in the cream before we mix the ice cream base. If you don’t have loose-leaf tea, just cut open a few tea bags to get about 1 tablespoon of tea.
- Salt and Vanilla – Salt helps to balance the sweetness of the ice cream, while pure vanilla extract enhances it.
For the complete list of ingredients and instructions for how to make earl grey ice cream, please see the printable recipe card below.
Homemade Ice Cream Storage Tips
Store this homemade Earl Grey Ice Cream in the freezer in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper pressed on top for up to one month. It will help prevent it from forming ice crystals.
Expert Recipe Tips
- The custard must be very cold before you add it to the ice cream maker. If you skip this step, your ice cream will not freeze.
- when it comes to making ice cream, you should always use high-fat milk and heavy cream for the best, creamiest texture. Lower fat substitutes can lead to icy ice creams or other texture issues.
- Sugar not only adds sweetness to homemade ice creams, it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.
- You can use loose leaf tea or tea bags to make the tea mixture portion of the recipe.
More Unique Homemade Ice Cream Recipes
- Mexican Vanilla Ice Cream
- Cherry Cordial Ice Cream
- Cornbread Ice Cream
- Black Ice Cream
- Honey Lavender Ice Cream – For those who like ice cream with a touch of lavender.
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Easy Earl Grey Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon earl grey tea
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- ¼ cup honey
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Freeze your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Add the heavy cream and earl grey tea to a small saucepan. Warm the cream over medium heat until it begins to steam. Once the cream is steaming (make sure not to let it boil), remove it from the heat and let the tea steep for 30 minutes at room temperature. Strain the cream through a fine mesh sieve and discard the tea. Set the cream aside for later.
- In a large bowl, whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar until they become pale yellow and well combined.
- Add the milk, honey, and salt to a large saucepan set over medium heat. When the mixture is warm and just beginning to steam, slowly pour it into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly to ensure that you incorporate the hot milk without scrambling the eggs.
- Pour the custard base back into the saucepan and return it to medium heat. Cook the custard, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spoon– about 5 minutes.
- Pour the custard through a fine mesh sieve into a large clean bowl and whisk in the tea-infused cream and vanilla.
- Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge to chill for at least 4 hours (or up to overnight).
- Once chilled, pour the ice cream base into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions until it reaches a soft-serve consistency. In my Kitchenaid ice cream attachment, this took about 15 minutes.
- Transfer the churned ice cream to a loaf pan and wrap it tightly with plastic. Freeze for at least 6 hours or until it is firm and set.
