It’s time to say goodbye.
Goodbye to summer. Goodbye to my old apartment. (We moved yesterday.) And goodbye to Ice Cream Fridays.
Not to be dramatic or anything.
As August draws to a close, I’m marking the end of the season by putting away my ice cream maker. It’s been a good run! Eleven whole weeks of Friday ice cream creations now populate the archives of this blog. To recap, we’ve had:
Chunky Lola Cookie Dough Ice Cream
Red Beet and White Chocolate Chip Ice Cream
Chocolate Terrine with Sea Salt and Thai Basil Ice Cream
Vegan Coconut Almond Fudge Crunch Ice Cream
Dairy-Free Caramelized Banana Ice Cream
Chili-Infused Pomegranate Sorbet
Homemade Pinkberry Frozen Yogurt
And as much as I’d like to keep going strong, I have to draw the line somewhere, and that somewhere is Labor Day. So of course, for our last Ice Cream Friday, I had to make the best ice cream yet, something I’ve been wanting to try for quite some time: Chai Latte Ice Cream.
This is an ice cream to ease you into fall. Like eating a cold, even creamier version of your favorite Starbucks drink. Super easy to make with just a regular ice cream base plus some chai tea bags. Even though I’m warning you ahead of time, you still won’t believe how good this is. It’s one of my favorite ice cream recipes yet, which makes it a fitting way to cap off my Summer of Ice Cream.
Again, not to be dramatic, I kind of feel like I’m breaking off a summer fling.
Listen, ice cream maker… I like you a lot. We’ve had a lot of fun together this summer. All those weekends we spent together (and all those weeknights, too) have meant so much to me… Even when we’re not together, you’ve been all I think about! Every dessert I eat or flavor combination I hear about, it just makes me think of you. And while I’m pretty sure I’d look a little slimmer in my bathing suit if we’d never met, I wouldn’t trade it for the world. But… we just can’t go on like this.
You see, even when we started, I kind of knew this was just for the summer. Did I ever tell you about my oven? Well, I have this oven, we’ve kind of been together a long time, but I needed a break. You came along, churning out all kinds of sweet, creamy deliciousness, and you were just what I needed. It’s been amazing, but I knew it couldn’t last forever. And then my oven called the other day. And I kind of realized that I miss it.
Don’t worry, ice cream maker, I’m not going far. You’ll still be in the back of the cupboard, just an arm’s reach away. We can still hang out! You know, like, just as friends. Would that be OK? Seriously, we should get together in a month or something and catch up. Maybe a caramel ice cream? Or chocolate hazelnut? Whatever you want – you can think about it and let me know. And I hope we’ll still be able to hang out next summer.
Thanks for understanding, ice cream maker. You’re really something special. So… you know… this isn’t goodbye. It’s just see you later.
OK, so that was kind of dramatic. Forgive me and enjoy your Labor Day weekend?
- 2 cups whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- pinch of salt
- 4 chai tea bags (found in most supermarkets)
- 6 egg yolks
- ice cream maker
- In a small pot, bring the milk, 1 cup of the cream, honey, vanilla, and salt just to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the honey. Remove from heat and set the chai tea bags in the cream mixture. Let steep, uncovered, for 15 minutes, then remove and discard the tea bags. (Taste before removing the tea bags - it should taste like a strong chai latte. You can leave the tea bags in for as little or as long of the cooling time as you'd like, depending on how strong you want the chai flavor to be. Just remember that you're going to add in another cup of cream that will dilute the flavor some.) Let the cream mixture cool another 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the 6 egg yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly pour in about a half cup of the cream mixture to temper the yolks. Pour in the rest of the mixture, then return to the pot.
- Heat over low heat until the mixture reads 170-175 degrees on a candy thermometer. The mixture should be thick enough that a line drawn with your finger across the back of the spoon will stay.
- Place a strainer over a large bowl. Strain the custard into the bowl to remove any little bits of egg. Stir in the remaining cup of cream.
- Refrigerate until very cold, preferably over night.
- Churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately for soft serve, or place in a covered container in the freezer for several hours to harden.
- Serve and enjoy!
I can’t believe ice cream Fridays are coming to an end! However, this particular ice cream seems like the perfect transition into fall. I love chai and can only imagine how tasty this ice cream is!
Nooooo! I’m not ready to say goodbye to ice cream Fridays! You’ve had so many wonderful ice cream ideas, it has been a pleasure to drool over each and every one! I’ve got to say, this one may be my favorite out of the whole lot. I love Chai anything and bet it makes a fabulous ice cream! Congrats on the move and have a fun weekend!
This by far is my favorite ice cream post i’ve seen featured all summer. I loooove chai flavored anything!
Aw, what a sad day. This looks like a great recipe to say goodbye with.
Hope you enjoy your new place and that you have a nice, long weekend!
I loved ice cream Fridays. And chai tea latte is one of my favorite Starbucks drinks, so I’m sure I’m going to love your chai latte ice cream. Alas, all good things must come to an end….
Thanks for the great recipe…we do not eat eggs, please let me what can i use instead of eggs, however not compromising on the taste :)
Hi Ashish, you could probably just omit the eggs, and even use coconut milk instead of the milk and cream if you’d like. It won’t have that custard flavor or thickness without the egg yolks, but it should still freeze OK!