Green Tea Ice Cream
In New York City, we had record heat this July -- as of this morning's newscast, fifteen days of temperatures in the nineties. Local news vans lumber by my window as reporters trek to nearby Astoria Pool for live remotes, quizzing water babies about the best tactics for staying cool during a heatwave. The pool is housed in the same park where, six long months ago, those same reporters were interviewing this summer's swimmers as everyone was bundled up for winter sledding.
I have to confess, I am somewhat indifferent to ice cream for three quarters of the year. But while I don't seek it out between Labor and Memorial Days (though, to be fair, I don't exactly turn it away), I more than make up for that lost time between Memorial and Labor Days. Summer just isn't summer without ice cream. This year's favorites have been a simple scoop of chocolate, drizzled with Kona Coffee Liquor; a fragrant snowdrift of vanilla, served with a tumble of brandied cherries; a pillowy apricot semifreddo; and a ten-thousand calorie banana split from the local diner.
An ice-cream maker is a nice addition to any kitchen. If you're looking for one, the DeLonghi
is costly but performs nearly flawlessly, and with care (which includes usage; appliances hate nothing more than not being allowed to earn their keep) should be a once-in-a-lifetime investment. The moderately-priced Kitchen Aid
and Cuisnart
are great workhorses. Peach and strawberry are simple starts for beginners - the recipe is probably included with your ice-cream maker, as it likely is for the citrusy sorbet that will provide a nice tingle at the end of a weekend meal. If you don't have an ice cream maker, granitas from syrupy grape to sinister espresso are divinely simple to make and eat. And there are many flavors of ice cream that you don't need an ice cream maker to make.
Ice cream is essentially a custard, processed at temperatures below freezing to achieve its distinctive creamy consistency. An ice cream maker facilitates this process by providing an environment where extreme cold transforms the custard into the treat that has everyone lining up and holding a bowl and spoon. But processing ice cream directly in the freezer produces a lovely, lush confection; with just the right consistency for soft, sexy flavors to lounge in.
One such flavor is green tea, which makes a delicate ice cream that, I'm advised, is a staple on the menu of Japanese restaurants everywhere but Japan. No matter - whether it's as authentic as okoge or as tourista as the Ramen Museum, this is a lovely dessert. The aristocratic aroma of the green tea perfumes and flavors the custard while tinting it a shade of green twice as refreshing as a stalk of mint. Serve this green tea ice cream after your mid-week teriyaki -- perhaps with a cup of the tea itself. The shock of the temperature extremes as they express the same flavor is the shock of winter in summer, and isn't that what we love about our summer treats: the brace of the cold as we struggle through the heat?
GREEN TEA ICE CREAM
Green tea powder, known as matcha or macha, is available in Asian markets, tea shops, many grocery stores and online. As this is a densely flavored ice cream, this recipe makes a small batch -- enough for about eight scoops.
3 eggs
2-1/2 tablespoons matcha
2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Hold an egg separator over a cup and break an egg over the separator, catching the yolk in the separator and letting the white fall into the cup. Place the yolk into a bowl. Use your fingers to remove and discard the thin, stringy chalaze if it is present. Repeat with the remaining two eggs. Cover the whites and refrigerate for another use.
2. Use a wire whisk to break up the yolks. Continuing to whisk, pour the sugar into the yolks in a thin stream. Once all of the sugar has been incorporated to the yolks, whisk until the yolk-sugar mixture is pale and thick, about one additional minute.
3. Pour the milk into a clean saucepan and heat on low. While the milk is heating, use a whisk to stir the matcha into the milk. As the milk heats, the matcha should release its fragrance.
4. As the milk-tea mixture is heating, use the whisk to incorporate the sugar-egg mixture into the milk-tea mixture.
5. While the custard is heating, fill the bottom of a a bowl large enough to hold the pan with ice.
6. Watch the custard, whisking as needed to ensure a smooth texture, for little bubbles to start to appear at the edge of the mixture in the pan. If you have a candy thermometer, the temperature of the mixture should not reach above 175 degrees F; but if not, just watch for the bubbles. Once the custard reaches near-boiling, remove the pan from the heat and settle onto the ice.
7. Pour the cream into a bowl and use a clean whisk, hand-held mixer or stick blender to lightly whip the cream just until volumized, approximately two minutes by hand or one minute by machine.
8. Use a wire whisk to incorporate the volumized cream into the custard.
9. Once the mixture is incorporated, transfer to a freezer-safe container. Place the container in the freezer, positioning it so that you can easily access it.
10. Check the ice cream in 1/2 hour. Ice crystals should have started forming on the edges of the mixture. As they do, remove the mixture from the freezer and use a sturdy whisk, stick blender or silicon spatula to break up the ice and redistribute it throughout the mixture.
11. Return the mixture to the freezer. Continue to check the mixture and redistribute the forming ice crystals every half hour until the mixture is smooth and creamy, approximately 2 -3 hours.
12. Once ice cream achieves the consistency you like, cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.
I have to confess, I am somewhat indifferent to ice cream for three quarters of the year. But while I don't seek it out between Labor and Memorial Days (though, to be fair, I don't exactly turn it away), I more than make up for that lost time between Memorial and Labor Days. Summer just isn't summer without ice cream. This year's favorites have been a simple scoop of chocolate, drizzled with Kona Coffee Liquor; a fragrant snowdrift of vanilla, served with a tumble of brandied cherries; a pillowy apricot semifreddo; and a ten-thousand calorie banana split from the local diner.
An ice-cream maker is a nice addition to any kitchen. If you're looking for one, the DeLonghi
is costly but performs nearly flawlessly, and with care (which includes usage; appliances hate nothing more than not being allowed to earn their keep) should be a once-in-a-lifetime investment. The moderately-priced Kitchen Aid and Cuisnart are great workhorses. Peach and strawberry are simple starts for beginners - the recipe is probably included with your ice-cream maker, as it likely is for the citrusy sorbet that will provide a nice tingle at the end of a weekend meal. If you don't have an ice cream maker, granitas from syrupy grape to sinister espresso are divinely simple to make and eat. And there are many flavors of ice cream that you don't need an ice cream maker to make.Ice cream is essentially a custard, processed at temperatures below freezing to achieve its distinctive creamy consistency. An ice cream maker facilitates this process by providing an environment where extreme cold transforms the custard into the treat that has everyone lining up and holding a bowl and spoon. But processing ice cream directly in the freezer produces a lovely, lush confection; with just the right consistency for soft, sexy flavors to lounge in.
One such flavor is green tea, which makes a delicate ice cream that, I'm advised, is a staple on the menu of Japanese restaurants everywhere but Japan. No matter - whether it's as authentic as okoge or as tourista as the Ramen Museum, this is a lovely dessert. The aristocratic aroma of the green tea perfumes and flavors the custard while tinting it a shade of green twice as refreshing as a stalk of mint. Serve this green tea ice cream after your mid-week teriyaki -- perhaps with a cup of the tea itself. The shock of the temperature extremes as they express the same flavor is the shock of winter in summer, and isn't that what we love about our summer treats: the brace of the cold as we struggle through the heat?
GREEN TEA ICE CREAM
Green tea powder, known as matcha or macha, is available in Asian markets, tea shops, many grocery stores and online. As this is a densely flavored ice cream, this recipe makes a small batch -- enough for about eight scoops.
3 eggs
2-1/2 tablespoons matcha
2/3 cup white sugar
1 cup whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1. Hold an egg separator over a cup and break an egg over the separator, catching the yolk in the separator and letting the white fall into the cup. Place the yolk into a bowl. Use your fingers to remove and discard the thin, stringy chalaze if it is present. Repeat with the remaining two eggs. Cover the whites and refrigerate for another use.
2. Use a wire whisk to break up the yolks. Continuing to whisk, pour the sugar into the yolks in a thin stream. Once all of the sugar has been incorporated to the yolks, whisk until the yolk-sugar mixture is pale and thick, about one additional minute.
3. Pour the milk into a clean saucepan and heat on low. While the milk is heating, use a whisk to stir the matcha into the milk. As the milk heats, the matcha should release its fragrance.
4. As the milk-tea mixture is heating, use the whisk to incorporate the sugar-egg mixture into the milk-tea mixture.
5. While the custard is heating, fill the bottom of a a bowl large enough to hold the pan with ice.
6. Watch the custard, whisking as needed to ensure a smooth texture, for little bubbles to start to appear at the edge of the mixture in the pan. If you have a candy thermometer, the temperature of the mixture should not reach above 175 degrees F; but if not, just watch for the bubbles. Once the custard reaches near-boiling, remove the pan from the heat and settle onto the ice.
7. Pour the cream into a bowl and use a clean whisk, hand-held mixer or stick blender to lightly whip the cream just until volumized, approximately two minutes by hand or one minute by machine.
8. Use a wire whisk to incorporate the volumized cream into the custard.
9. Once the mixture is incorporated, transfer to a freezer-safe container. Place the container in the freezer, positioning it so that you can easily access it.
10. Check the ice cream in 1/2 hour. Ice crystals should have started forming on the edges of the mixture. As they do, remove the mixture from the freezer and use a sturdy whisk, stick blender or silicon spatula to break up the ice and redistribute it throughout the mixture.
11. Return the mixture to the freezer. Continue to check the mixture and redistribute the forming ice crystals every half hour until the mixture is smooth and creamy, approximately 2 -3 hours.
12. Once ice cream achieves the consistency you like, cover with plastic wrap until ready to serve.
I remember we ate some after sushi. Yummy!
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