Chai Ice Cream

Sweet, spicy and slightly exotic, Chai Ice Cream delivers the rich flavors of a Chai Latte along with the refreshing chill of an ice cream dessert.

I love the complex and spicy flavors of a good chai latte.  But when summer’s heat rolls in, I also want a refreshment with maximum chill. 

Enter Homemade Chai Ice Cream!

Now in case you’re not familiar with Chai Latte, it’s a creamy beverage of milk and black tea infused with rich spices like cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and cloves.  Think of it as a tea lover’s answer to all those fancy coffee drinks. 

And now that you can have it in ice cream form, it’s uniquely satisfying.  Especially when the thermometer heads toward 90! 

The Importance of Steeping Time, and Method

To make Chai Ice Cream, you have to infuse your milk and cream with spices and tea flavors before freezing into ice cream.  To do this, you’ll need to heat your ingredients and let them steep until the tea and spice flavors disperse into the milk and cream.

There is one trick to this and that is not letting your tea infuse too long.  This is important since that can result in bitter, off flavors–15 minutes is about the max.  The spices, on the other hand, need to sit for about 45 minutes or you risk them being weak. 

Now, most recipes solve this by heating the milk with the spices first, waiting, then reheating and adding the tea.  I decided to streamline the process by using tea bags which are easy to pull out after 15 minutes.  Then the spices can keep working until stained out after another 30 minutes. 

If you use loose tea, however, you’ll need to do the double heating method.

Tips & FAQs

I used Rishi brand organic English Breakfast tea for this and found that two teabags gave me sufficient tea flavor.  For other brands where the teabags are smaller and/or less premium, you may need up to 4. 

Do I need to have whole spices, or can I use ground? Ground spices may result in a slightly “muddier” appearance but should produce good flavor.  Since I haven’t personally tested this (I infuse all the time so have lots of whole spices), here is a conversion guide I found in Epicurious. 

Getting impatient waiting for the infused milk to cool?  I put mine in a large flat pyrex dish inside a lasagna pan full of ice water to get it to chill faster.  A zip loc bag would probably be the classic answer to this (and actually more efficient) but I’m trying to reduce my plastic usage.

Did you know you don’t need to peel ginger root before using in most recipes?  I always have ginger root in my freezer since it’s so much nicer than powdered.  And now it’s even quicker to grate up what I need!

More Ice Cream to Keep You Cool!

Still hungry?  Take a look at some more ice cream recipes!

• • Homemade Orange Sherbet by A Day in the Life on the Farm
  • Cherry Pie Mascarpone Ice Cream by A Kitchen Hoor’s Adventures
  • Mini Ice Cream Cakes by Easy Recipes for One
  • Cinnamon Peach Ice Cream with Grape-Nuts by Faith, Hope, Love, & Luck Survive Despite a Whiskered Accomplice
  • Mocha Madness Ice Cream by Jolene’s Recipe Journal
  • Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream by Karen’s Kitchen Stories
  • Ice Cream Sandwich Cake by Our Crafty Mom

Chai Ice Cream

Sweet, spicy and slightly exotic, Chai Ice Cream delivers the rich flavors of a Chai Latte along with the refreshing chill of an ice cream dessert.

Author: Inger

5 from 2 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 45 minutes mins

chill time 10 hours hrs

Total Time 11 hours hrs

Course Desserts & Snacks

Cuisine International

Servings 8

Calories 281 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 cup 2% milk
• 2 cups cream
• ½ teaspoon cardamom pods
• ¼ teaspoon whole cloves
• ¼ teaspoon peppercorns
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1 Tablespoon grated ginger root
• 2 tea bags premium English breakfast or other black tea (or up to 4 bags non-premium)
• 1 vanilla bean (or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract)
• 5/8 cup sugar (1/2 cup plus 2 Tablespoons)

Instructions

 

• Smash the cardamom pods to release the seeds.
• In a medium saucepan, heat the milk, half of the cream and the spices (if you’re using vanilla extract, that will be best added at the end) until just under boiling. Add the tea bags, cover the pan, and set a timer for 15 minutes.
• After steeping 15 minutes, remove the tea bags. Re-cover the saucepan and continue to steep.
• After an additional 30 minutes (or a bit more is okay), strain the mixture. Discard the spices. Add remaining cream, vanilla extract if using, and sugar. Chill until cold.
• Freeze according to your machine’s directions. Remove ice cream to a covered container, then place in freezer overnight to get fully firm.

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Nutrition

Calories: 281kcalCarbohydrates: 20gProtein: 3gFat: 22gSaturated Fat: 14gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0.03gCholesterol: 70mgSodium: 30mgPotassium: 109mgFiber: 1gSugar: 19gVitamin A: 908IUVitamin C: 1mgCalcium: 85mgIron: 0.2mg

I am not a health professional and nutrition data is calculated programatically. Accuracy may vary with product selection, calculator accuracy, etc. Consult a professional for the best information.

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