In the Kitchen: We All Scream For...

My Mouthwatering Masterpiece. 

...ICE CREAM! For my readers who have payed extra close attention to my previous posts, you'll remember that I've wanted an ice-cream maker for quite a while now. But, because it seemed a rather frivolous purchase, I couldn't bring myself to buy one. Lucky for me, my wonderful parents are regular readers and decided that an ice-cream maker just might make the perfect Christmas gift for me. (Thanks mommy and daddy! I'll repay you in ice cream soon!) Being the lazy thing that I am, I didn't get around to using it until a few weeks ago when I decided to emulate my favorite ice cream shop, Ici, and make one of my favorite flavors in the world: Earl Grey. I scoured the internet and happened upon this recipe from Mac & Cheese, which was a resource that I happily consulted and modified to suit my needs. The following post details my ice-cream making adventure in recipe form...don't worry, there will be lots of personal/witty commentary and photos to keep things lively and a little anecdotal tidbit at the end...so read and party on, Garth and Wayne. And, away we go:

Ingredients:
(makes about 1 quart––the maximum amount that my ice cream maker holds.)

1 cup whole milk
2 cups half & half
3/4 cup sugar
6 Earl Grey tea bags (Trader Joe's version works well)
5 egg yolks

Ingredients, minus egg yolks.

Directions (complete with my goofy commentary in italics and lots of photos):

1. Pour the milk, half & half and sugar into a medium-sized pot and heat on medium/hot until warm. Since I don't have a fancy candy thermometer or anything like that, I just used my (clean) finger to test the temperature. Remove from heat, place the tea bags in the mixture, cover and steep for one hour. I was a little worried about leaving warm milk out for so long, but it turned out fine for me, so just roll with it.

Pre-steeped mixture.

Post-steeped mixture.

2. Separate eggs if you haven't already and whisk the yolks together in a medium-sized bowl (should be large enough to hold the milk mixture. Rewarm the mixture and slowly pour it into the bowl with egg yolks, whisking constantly. Yeah, I don't have fancy kitchen equipment or even regular kitchen equipment. I had to substitute a fork for a whisk and a large pot for a medium-sized bowl. But, as Tim Gunn says, make it work!

Being a poor college student, I have no medium-sized bowls laying around.
Only one medium sized pot and one large sized pot, pictured above.

3. Return the milk and egg mixture to the pot, cook over medium heat. Use a spatula or wooden spoon to stir and scrap the bottom of the pan. This is your custard--it will be done when the back of the spatula/spoon. (If you're unsure, you can draw a line across the coated spatula/spoon with your finger. If it leaves a clean trail, it's done.) I was also a little nervous about this part, mainly because I fear salmonella like the plague. I waited until the custard 'coated the back of the spatula,' but it seemed so subjective, so I kept it on a little longer. I didn't know the finger trick until after I had made it. 

Obviously, not my kitchen. (Kinda wish it were.)
My photo ended up being not so good.
Credit: taste.com.au.

– Cool the mixture (Overnight for best results. This would also be a good time to freeze your freezer bowl if needed). I actually didn't know that the freezer bowl needed be frozen ahead of time until after I had made the custard. So I improvised, stuck the custard in the fridge for the night and put the freezer bowl in the freezer. Turns out, cooling custard overnight is a thing real cooks do. Awesome. 

Just in case you didn't know what a pot in a fridge looked like. 

– Freeze in ice cream maker according to your appliance's instructions. With my ice cream maker (Cuisinart ICE-21R), your freezer bowl needs to be pre-frozen for about 24 hours before you make the ice cream. Attach the freezer bowl to the base. Place the mixing paddle into the bowl, circle side up. Place lid on base and lock it into place. This turned out to be somewhat stressful for me because I was so worried about it turning out alright and I didn't want to be foiled by overlooking a detail. The manual said to put the custard in the freezer bowl asap, because the bowl would start to defrost. So I was running around my tiny kitchen like a mad-woman, frantically double-checking my instruction booklet to make sure I didn't miss a step.

And, here...we...go...

Nervously consulting the manual.

Ahhh, what is happening? 

– Turn your ice cream maker on and immediately pour the mixture in. Leave that noisy thing on for 20 minutes. This was seriously the most nerve-wracking thing the first time––I was so skeptical that it was gonna turn out like ice-cream. The second time I made this I had a lot of fun checking up on it every so often and watch the mixing paddle scrape the solids off side of the freezer bowl. I don't know why that was so entertaining. But I digress... 

Pouring...

Swirling, swirling, ever swirling.
Wilt thou ever becometh ice-cream?

It's working! It's working!

– At this point, your ice cream is finished and will have a soft-serve–like consistency. If you are anything like me, you will be jumping around your kitchen with a level of excitement only seen in kindergarten classroom. If you desire a more ice-cream–like texture, transfer the dessert to a container and store in freezer for a few hours or overnight, for best results. After that, you've got Ici-status Earl Grey ice-cream!

Straight out of the maker.
Soft-serve consistency.

Hello world. Look what I made! 

After a night in the freezer.

Despite my loquacious description of the process, it was surprisingly easy to make this recipe. Before this, my only other experience making ice-cream was with my dad when I was about six years old. We had a one of those old fashioned wooden churners you had to crank by hand, and one sweltering summer's day we made strawberry ice-cream in the backyard. (I would say it made me feel like Huck Finn or something, but his dad wasn't very nice. Mine is.) I remember my arms being so sore, but the ice-cream was so good, it felt as though I had earned it. And, even though compared to that, this experience this was ridiculously easy (to the point where it's dangerous for my waistline), I still got that feeling of satisfaction this time around.

So, making ice-cream, believe it or not, was kind of an empowering experience for me. Being able to make it all by myself and having it turn out that good was something to be proud of. The fact that it was just as good as or (dare I say it?) maybe even better than Ici's (no, blasphemy!)...well, that just put a big smile on my face. Look out for many more ice-cream making posts in the future!