This Earl Grey chocolate ice cream has a deep, rich chocolate taste layered with a beautiful Earl Grey note that keeps you coming back for more.
Meet my new favorite chocolate ice cream, Earl Grey chocolate ice cream! I have been dreaming of bringing an Earl Grey chocolate ice cream to life since I made these Earl Grey chocolate pots de creme over a year ago. For me, regular chocolate ice cream doesn't quite hit the spot. I’m drawn to chocolate ice cream layered with flavors like chile, herbs, espresso, or Earl grey tea. This Earl grey chocolate ice cream is my pots de creme re-imagined.
To make the ice cream, I steeped Earl grey tea leaves in a heavy cream and milk mixture for 8 minutes. I wanted a gentle Earl Grey flavor to complement the chocolate so I decreased the amount of Earl grey tea from the original recipe. For the chocolate flavor, I whisked in melted Valrhona 70% cacao and Dutch processed cocoa which imbued the cream mixture with an intense chocolate flavor analogous to a dark roast coffee. I also tested the recipe with regular, unsweetened cocoa powder and the Dutch process cocoa won . Use good quality chocolate instead of bars or chips with high sugar and cocoa butter which compromise the texture and freezing temperature.
The cream mixture is used to temper the egg yolks and create the custard base. Egg yolks help create a creamy and smooth texture and only four yolks are needed for this recipe. From my ice cream making experience, you need a minimum of two egg yolks to get that creamy texture and maximum of four otherwise that eggy undertone will start to come through. Don’t get me wrong, I love eggs but prefer them for breakfast and not for my desserts to taste eggy. Once the eggs are tempered, the whole mixture is cooked over low heat to create a creamy custard. Strain the custard to get rid of any scrambled eggs or lumps and let it cool to room temperature before refrigerating. I prefer to refrigerate my custard overnight for all the flavors to meld together instead of churning it right away.
This Earl Grey chocolate ice cream is for the chocolate lovers who want a little more--a chocolate ice cream with depth, richness, and a beautiful Earl grey note. We enjoyed it so much we’re onto batch number three already. With the weather being in the 80s-90s, we’ll be making this all summer long to cool down.
For more ice cream recipes, check out these recipes: mulberry crumble ice cream, roasted balsamic strawberry ice cream, Earl grey honey blossom ice cream, Vietnamese coffee ice cream, and rum raisin ice cream.
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Earl Grey chocolate ice cream
Equipment
- Ice cream maker
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup 2% milk
- 8 oz dark chocolate, 70%
- ¼ cup Dutch cocoa
- 2 tbsps loose Earl grey tea leaves
- 4 medium egg yolks
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ⅛ tsp salt
- ¼ cup dark chocolate, 70% chopped
Instructions
- In a double boiler or a bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, add the cacao solids and ½ cup of heavy cream. Stir chocolate until melted and smooth. Set melted chocolate aside.
- In a heavy saucepan, combine remaining heavy cream, milk, salt and ½ cup of sugar.
- Put the pan over medium heat and let the mixture boil gently to bubbling just around the edges (gentle simmer) and sugar completely dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
- Add the Earl Grey tea leaves and let it steep for 7-8 minutes until the cream has taken on the tea flavor, stirring occasionally and tasting to make sure it’s not too bitter.
- Whisk in Dutch cocoa until smooth. Add in melted chocolate and whisk until smooth.
- In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up and whisk in remaining sugar. Set aside.
- Put the saucepan back on the stove over low heat and let it warm up for 2 minutes.
- Carefully measure out ½ cup of hot cream mixture.
- While whisking the eggs constantly, whisk the hot cream mixture into the eggs until smooth. Continue tempering the eggs by adding another ½ cup of hot cream to the bowl with the yolks.
- Pour the cream-egg mixture back to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly until it is thickened and coats the back of a spatula, about 5 minutes.
- Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container.
- Pour the mixture into a 1-gallon Ziplock freezer bag and submerge the sealed bag in an ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes. Refrigerate the ice cream base for at least 4 hours or overnight.
- Pour the ice cream base into the frozen canister of your ice cream machine and follow the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Spin until thick and creamy about 25-30 minutes.
- Pack the ice cream into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze in the coldest part of your freezer until firm, at least 4 hours.
- When ready to serve, scoop the ice cream into a serving bowl and top with chopped chocolate.
Joe
Loved how the earl grey chocolate wasn’t too strong! Made a second batch already. Thanks for the recipe!