Matcha ice cream
You might have observed that lately – or during the past few years at least – there has been somewhat of a matcha green tea craze. It obviously started with the traditional hot beverage but then quickly escalated and crept into everything else. Desserts, appetizers, even main courses – matcha has successfully invaded the food world. I personally find the taste of matcha tea too strong, though it has to be because I prefer all my caffeinated teas on the weaker side. But matcha-flavoured desserts? Absolutely fantastic. It’s everything you need to feel playful yet sophisticated at the same time. So after a recent trip to Thailand, where matcha ice cream was consumed at minimum once daily, I brought back a load of matcha powder and eventually came up with this recipe.
It is worth mentioning that this recipe is quite intense on green tea flavour, so if you prefer it milder you should scale down on the matcha powder. Since matcha tends to be rather expensive, I don’t recommend using the best quality for this ice cream, ordinary cooking grade will do just fine. I haven’t tried making this without the ice cream maker but if you would like to try, I suggest you chill your matcha custard and whipping cream almost to freezing point before mixing together.
Matcha ice cream ingredients:
- 250ml (1c) full fat milk
- 4 egg yolks
- 115g (1/2c) sugar
- 1tsp corn flour
- 2tbsp matcha powder
- 250ml (1c) whipping cream (35%)
Directions:
- Start by placing 250ml (1c) full fat milk in a medium saucepan and bringing to gentle boil.
- Meanwhile combine 4 egg yolks, 115g (1/2c) sugar and 1tsp corn flour. Beat until pale and increased in volume.
- Once the milk is starting to boil, take it off the heat and slowly add to the yolk mixture, whisking continuously to stop the yolks from curdling.
- When the milk and yolks are fully combined, return the custard back to the pan and stir constantly over medium-low heat.
- Continue cooking and stirring until the custard thickens and coats the back of a spoon/spatula.
- Once ready, take the custard off the heat and add 2tbsp matcha powder, stirring until well blended. At this point I prefer to pour the custard into a tall beaker and beat the matcha in with a hand blender because it’s faster and easier.
- When the matcha powder is evenly blended and the custard is uniform green, cover it and chill really well. To speed things up, I put it directly into the freezer until the edges start to freeze up.
- Once your matcha custard is thoroughly cold, add 250ml (1c) cold whipping cream to it and blend well.
- Pour your almost ready matcha ice cream into an ice cream maker and churn until it starts to freeze up.
At this point your ice cream should have a perfect soft serve consistency and can be enjoyed straight away. Alternatively, scoop it into a freeze safe container and store in the freezer until few minutes before serving.
