Earl Grey Ice Cream is our favourite dessert to scoop for loose leaf tea lovers.
Our quick & easy homemade frozen dessert recipe is made using an Ice Cream & Gelato Maker.
This decadent gourmet treat features an earl grey tea ice cream base with cream cheese and blueberry jam swirl.
Enjoy as a cool scoop on a hot summer day or serve as a special dessert like an ice cream sundae with fresh berries, wafer cookies and dark chocolate.
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My Family Loves Earl Grey Ice Cream
What family doesn’t love ice cream?
I spent months researching Toronto’s best ice cream & gelato. In search of the city’s most drool-worthy frozen desserts, I found endless inspiring flavour combinations.
As a kid my parents used to take me to local ice cream parlours all the time in Toronto, Markham, Oakville and Muskoka.
Over the years each family member has developed a penchant for a particular flavour. I love Chocolate Peanut Butter, Dad hearts Jamoca Almond Fudge, Mom adores Mint Chocolate Chip and my sister raves for Pralines & Cream.
Since everyone in my family is an Afternoon Tea lover with a penchant for hot cups of loose leaf I created my own homemade earl grey ice cream recipe.
I’ve taken my mom, sister and dad to enjoy some of the world’s best High Tea menus. This ice cream recipe is inspired by the beloved tea time tradition experienced at iconic luxury hotels like Balmoral Hotel Edinburgh, Fairmont Ottawa, Ritz Carlton Hong Kong, Four Seasons Resort Koh Samui, St Regis Bali, Langdon Hall in Cambridge, Four Seasons Hotel Hampshire, Taj Mahal Palace Hotel Mumbai, Langham Hotel Chicago, The King Edward Hotel in Toronto, Windsor Arms Yorkville, Shangri-La Hotel in Toronto and Prince of Wales Hotel in Niagara.
What Is Ice Cream?
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from dairy milk or cream and is flavoured with sweetener such as sugar, and flavourings such as cocoa or vanilla.
The mixture is stirred to incorporate air and is cooled below the freezing point of water to prevent undesirable ice crystals from forming. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is stored at very low temperatures.
The meaning of the name “ice cream” varies from one country to another. Terms such as frozen custard, frozen yogurt, sorbet and gelato are used to distinguish different varieties and styles.
Ice cream may also be served in dishes, for eating with a spoon, or licked from edible cones. Ice cream may be served with other desserts, such as pie, or as an ingredient in ice cream floats, sundaes, milkshakes, ice cream cakes and eye-popping Baked Alaska.
History Of Ice Cream
The origins of frozen desserts are unknown, though there are several often repeated legends dated as early as the 3rd millenium in ancient China. According to one legendary origin myth, the Roman Emperor Nero had ice collected from the Apennine Mountains to produce the first sorbet mixed with honey and wine. Other legends say ice cream originated in the Mongolian empire and first spread to China during its expansion.
Its spread throughout Europe is sometimes attributed to Arab traders, but more often to Marco Polo. Though it’s not mentioned in any of his writings, Polo is often credited with introducing sorbet-style desserts to Italy after learning of it during his travels to China.
The Italian duchess Catherine de’ Medici is said to have introduced flavoured sorbet ices to France when she brought some Italian chefs with her to France upon marrying the Duke of Orléans in 1533. One hundred years later, Charles I of England was reportedly so impressed by the “frozen snow” that he offered his own ice cream maker a lifetime pension in return for keeping the formula secret, so that ice cream could be a royals only treat.
Snow was used to cool drinks in Greece around 500 BC and Hippocrates is known to have criticized chilled drinks for causing “fluxes of the stomach”. Snow collected from the lower slopes of mountains was unsanitary and iced drinks were believed to cause convulsions, colic and a host of other ailments. Seneca criticized the extravagant costs associated with iced desserts in an era without refrigeration.
Ice cream was made possible only by the discovery of the endothermic effect. Prior to this, cream could only be chilled but not frozen. It was the addition of salt, that lowered the melting point of ice, which had the effect of drawing heat from the cream and allowing it to freeze. The first known record of this comes from the Indian poem Pancatantra, dating to the 4th century AD.
Best Ice Cream Maker
Looking for the best ice cream maker to make homemade gelato, granita, sorbet and sherbet?
You don’t have to own a gelato shop or ice cream parlour to enjoy decadent gourmet ice cream scoops or soft serve at home.
Affordable ice cream makers typically sell for under $100 dollars and include a main base with on/off switch, frozen bowl, paddle attachment and lid. The box usually includes instructions on how to use the ice cream maker and a few easy recipes to get you started.
- Hamilton Beach Ice Cream Maker: 1.5 quart ice cream maker is fully automatic and features a compact bowl that freezes in less than 4 hours. Available in white and red.
- Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker: 2 quart ice cream maker features brushed stainless steel exterior and handy spout for adding mixins.
- Whynter Ice Cream Maker: splurge on this premium professional quality product that has a capacity of 2.1 quarts.
Blueberry & Earl Grey Tea Options
This easy gourmet ice cream recipe features two special ingredients that we suggest you purchase at a premium. Quality over quantity when it comes to flavouring homemade ice cream!
You can use a classic Twinings Earl Grey and simply snip the tea bags with scissors and add the leaves to the simmering pot of cream. The best option is purchasing high quality loose leaf Earl Grey as the leaves are larger, offering a more profound flavour when steeped in warm cream.
This tea ice cream features a swirl of summer berry preserves. We suggest using French brand Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry.
Earl Grey Ice Cream Tips
If it’s your first time making homemade Earl Grey Ice Cream we suggest reading our step by step recipe from top to bottom. Familiarize yourself with each step before you start cooking in the kitchen.
Here are some helpful tips and tricks for first time ice cream makers:
- Use organic whole milk and whipping cream if you can find it.
- Source high quality loose leaf Earl Grey Tea and Bonne Maman Wild Blueberry Jam.
- Use a Cuisiniart Ice Cream Maker for great results.
- Serve your homemade ice cream immediately out of the machine for soft serve texture, or store in the freezer and scoop for a harder more authentic ice cream parlour experience.
- Serve ice cream simply on a cone or as a fun sundae with your favourite fresh fruit, vanilla wafer cookies or berry muffins.
What To Serve With Earl Grey Ice Cream
If you’re an ice cream traditionalist you’ll likely want to lick our Earl Grey Ice Cream off a cone or scoop out of a bowl all on its own.
If you’re celebrating a special occasion, or simply live your life with the mantra YOLO, dress up your homemade ice cream by serving it as a sundae or between two homemade cookies as a gourmet ice cream sandwich.
We love serving this ice cream recipe smushed between Oat Flour Cookies, Chewy Rainbow Skittles Sugar Cookies and Lemon Lavender Shortbread Cookies.
You can also scoop homemade ice cream over muffins, cupcakes, pancakes and more! Try pairing a scoop or two with Baileys French Toast, Blueberry Mango Crepes with Coconut Flour, Blueberry Earl Grey Muffins, Mini Blueberry Muffins, High Fiber Blueberry Banana Muffins, Lemon Blueberry Muffins or Eggo Waffles.
Storing Ice Cream
Once you’ve mixed the freshly churned soft Earl Grey ice cream base with blueberry jam store it in the freezer overnight to harden so you can scoop it easily.
If you’re making ice cream sandwiches, form them when the ice cream is soft then immediately store them upright in the freezer in a container or freezer bag.
Our homemade Blueberry Cream Cheese Earl Grey Tea Ice Cream can be stored in the freezer for up to a month. But, I really doubt it will last much longer than a few days!
How To Make Earl Grey Ice Cream Recipe
Blueberry Cream Cheese Earl Grey Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice cream maker
- pot
- whisk
- measuring cups
- measuring spoons
- Sieve
- Ice Cream Scoop
Ingredients
- 2 cups Whipping Cream
- 1 cup Whole Milk
- 1/8 tsp Kosher Salt
- 2/3 cup White Sugar
- 2 tbsp Loose-leaf Earl Grey Tea
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 2 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1/4 cup Cream Cheese
- 1/4 cup Blueberry Jam
Instructions
- In a small pot, simmer cream, whole milk, sugar, salt and Earl Grey Tea, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. Pass through a fine sieve and discard tea leaves.
- In a separate bowl, whisk yolks, vanilla extract and cream cheese. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk 1/3 of the hot cream into the yolks, then, whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream.
- Return pot to medium-low heat and cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Cool mixture at room temperature. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Churn cooled base in an ice cream machine according to manufacturer's directions.
- Scoop finished earl grey tea ice cream into a large container. This container should be freezer safe as it is what you are going to store the ice cream in.
- Microwave the blueberry jam for 10-15 seconds until it is slightly runny. Drizzle the blueberry jam over the earl grey tea ice cream and use a knife to create swirls, incorporating the jam into the ice cream mixture.
- Serve the ice cream directly from the bowl as soft serve, or store in the freezer until ready to eat.
- Make a delicious Earl Grey Ice Cream Sundae by serving scoops with Blueberry Muffins and fresh blueberries.
Nutrition
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