Not-So-Award-Winning Dirty Chai
As I mentioned last week, over the weekend I participated in the first ever Brooklyn Ice Cream Takedown. The flavor was top secret aside from a few taste testers in the office (thank you Dawn and Maggie!).
But in spite of my almost two full days of ice cream making—I churned out 10 batches in total—my recipe didn’t garner a prize. That’s okay though, there was some fierce competition!
Just take a look at the list of flavors everyone made:
Jenny Liu and Ashley Banks – Masala Spice Cream
Mile O’Neill – Strawberry Basil
Nelson Miu – Walnut Candy Bacon
Anthony Santoro — Cioccolato Di Amore
Melissa Zhiang — Roasted Peach and Basil Sorbet
Michael Stewart and Carly Goodspeed – Twin Peaks Coffee and Donuts
Erika Brenner and Charlie Mirisola – Ice Toddy
Kathryn Moise – Gingermon
Tony Santoro – Caprese Freezee
Kristin Appenbrink – Dirty Chai
Ben Mims – Pavlovian Response
Siobhan Fagan – Absinthe chococlate chip!
Adrian Ashby – Smoky Brown Sugar
Ashley Soliman - banana peanut praline
Susan Lai – Meditate on This
Jason Anello – Pecan Pie
Nathalie Herling – Amazon Magic Dream Cream
Loreal Monroe – Indian Summer Coconut Chili
Leigh Armstrong – Vietnamese Coffee
Congratulations to all the winners and to everyone who participated, there were some really fantastic flavors.
Now, as I promised all the people who came out to the Bell House to taste the ice creams, and took my shamelessly self-promotional card, here’s the recipe:
Dirty Chai Ice Cream
makes about 1 quart
Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
4 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cream cheese, at room temperature
2/3 cup sugar
a pinch of kosher salt
1 tablespoon honey
1/4 cup chilled espresso (that’s what makes it dirty)
Chai Spices:
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
10 teaspoons loose tea leaves (I used Black Yuman)
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 cinnamon stick
Directions:
- Measure out 2 cups of whole milk, and reserve 2 tablespoons of the milk in a smaller prep bowl. Combine the rest of the milk, heavy cream, honey, and sugar in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium high heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Bring just to a boil, then remove from heat.
- Add the everything listed in the chai spice list to the milk mixture in the saucepan. Cover and let steep for 25 minutes. Once the mixture has steeped, strain out the spices and discard.
- Take the 2 tablespoons of milk you set aside originally, and whisk in the cornstarch to create a slurry. Then slowly whisk the slurry into the milk mixture.
- Return saucepan to the heat and bring to a boil. Let boil for approximately 1 minute, until the cornstarch begins to thicken the mixture. Remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the cream cheese and salt until incorporated. Pour the hot milk mixture into the bowl with the cream cheese. Whisk together until fully combined. Cover and chill in the refrigerator until completely cool.
- Once chilled, freeze the base in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. About 15 minutes before the ice cream maker is done, pour in the 1/4 cup of espresso. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for an additional 2 hours.
Sadly, because I was making this assembly line style, I don’t have step by step photos. But it’s very similar to the Mint Chocolate Chip recipe I posted earlier this week. And if you have questions about specific steps, I’m happy to answer them in the comments.
I would also like to give a special thanks to my friend Kate, who tirelessly scooped alongside me during the competition, and helped me haul my massive cooler to and from the competition. I couldn’t have done it without her!
[event photos by Amy Feezor]
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