This ice cream is chocolaty, kinda-spicy, and totally delicious.
It's a nice spin on an old classic.
Ingredients:
2/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
3 slices peeled ginger, sliced about 1/4-inch thick
7 cardamom pods
3 star anise pods
10 whole cloves
4 black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon orange zest
7 teaspoons loose tea leaves (I used Black Yuman)
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 cinnamon stick
Steps:
1. Combine heavy cream and whole milk in a 3 quart saucepan, and heat over medium heat. Stir in sugar, cocoa powder, and salt. Continue to stir until the sugar and cocoa powder are completely dissolved. Bring mixture to a boil. Turn down to a simmer, and cook for approximately 4 minutes.
2. Stir in ginger, cardamom pods, star anise pods, cloves, peppercorns, nutmeg, orange zest, tea leaves, vanilla bean, and cinnamon stick and remove from heat. Cover with a tight fitting lid and steep for 25 minutes. Using a fine mesh sieve, strain out the spices and tea leaves and discard the solids. (This might take a couple of passes to catch everything.)
Chill the base in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours, until it is cool to the touch.
3. Freeze the base in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to a plastic or glass freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours before serving.