it's been incredibly hot out. i can't seem to flip my pillow enough at night.
when i feel this hot, i think about things like antarctica.
i will never in my life make it down to antarctica. this is, most likely, a fact.
and though i will most likely never experience that type of icy cold, there are some things that can be done.
i can saran wrap ice cubes to my legs.
i can make water balloons and throw them at myself awkwardly.
i can put a bag of frozen edamame between my neck and the couch.
and of course, i can make and consume ice cream. and if i want, can self-induce my body into a cold ice cream coma.
um, yes. let's do all these things. we can start with the ice cream.
for a long time, i stuck to making philadelphia style ice cream. philadelphia style ice creams aren't made with a custard base.
aka. no eggs. (wooP!) i was always worried about the possibility of ruining my ice cream with curdled eggs.
and i did make some pretty delicious ice creams without those yolks, so custard based ice cream was unimportant to me for awhile.
but i'm glad to report that i've gotten over it... thou shalt accept the beauty of eggs.
i'm evolving like crazy.
and good thing, because custard based ice creams are beyond perfect, bomb diggity creaminess, with a fresh taste as pure as the heavens. it's as good as ice cream gets.
and the best part...you don't even have to worry about creepy curdling yolks.
a fine mesh strainer saves the day, every time.
so bring it, custard.
bring it, earl grey tea!
what? yes.
i looove the flavor of tea. and i loove putting that awesome flavor in more than hot water.
earl grey tea steeped in milk. egg yolks turn milk into earl grey custard. silky custard into ice cream.
and oh, earl grey ice cream is a marvel.
it was made to go with pie.
the pie lasted a couple days in the house. the ice cream didn't make it through the night.
i'm sad it's gone.
time to throw water balloons at myself. or i could opt to be less weird and just make more. we'll see.
Earl Grey Ice Cream
from gimme some oven
1 cup whole milk
2 cups half and half
3/4 cup sugar
6 earl grey tea bags
5 egg yolks
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
in a small saucepan, heat milk, half and half, and sugar over medium heat, stirring occasionally. once the milk is steaming (but not boiling), remove pan from heat. place the tea bags in the milk mixture, cover and steep for twenty minutes, stirring occasionally. remove the bags, then return to medium heat.
in a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and vanilla until frothy. once the milk mixture is re-warmed, add a couple tablespoons of it to the eggs, whisking to combine. repeat a few times, whisking constantly, until the yolk mixture is warmed. then pour the warmed egg yolks into the pan and cook over medium heat, stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan constantly until the mixture thickens to a custard and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
immediately strain through a fine mesh strainer, and then refrigerate until completely cooled (at least 6-8 hours).
then churn custard in ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instruction.
