Summer is finally here……hooray. That gives me the perfect excuse to knock up a batch of ice cream. Not just any old ice cream, no way!
I have had in my mind the idea of making a chai spiced cookie because I love chai spiced tea. Then I thought about it and tea of any sort, to me, must be served with biscuits.
So, tea and biscuits ice cream it had to be. And that is what I have here for you. I am really a coffee fanatic but will always drink one cup of tea in the afternoon, preferably with a biscuit.
It sort of signifies the end of a school day and gives me five minutes to get my act together before the tea time mayhem descends.
My favourite tea is Earl Grey and that is what I have chosen to use in both my ice cream recipe and my accompanying biscuit. A tea and biscuit combination in every sense of the word.
A happy discovery from making this has been to eat the biscuits straight from the freezer. I put them in there as the recipe made far too many to eat in one go. They were a chewy biscuit (I am not fond of chewy biscuits) but eating them straight from the freezer gives them a cool crunch I love…..such revelation!
If you are not a fan of the floral Earl Grey, you could replace it with any other tea. Chai tea bags or tea leaves would be good. It would need to be a tea with some sort of flavour other than PG tips. Or you could just add some warm spices alongside your regular tea to give it depth of flavour.
I am entering this into Kavey Eats “Bloggers Scream For Ice Cream Challlenge“. The ingredient this month is CONDENSED MILK.
This is also my entry into Linzi at Lancashire Food’s Fabulous Summer Ices. There is a prize for the winner too, a lovely Emma Bridgewater cooler bag!
Tea and Biscuits Ice Cream
Ingredients for the ice cream :- Adapted from a recipe by Shelina Permalloo in this month’s “Observer Food Monthly” for Chai Ice Cream
Makes enough to fill 12 ice cream sandwiches
200ml double cream
150ml condensed milk
2 teabags worth of Earl Grey tea (the leaves not the whole tea bag)
50g soft brown sugar
1tbsp liquid glucose
Method :-
Warm the cream, sugar, condensed milk and tea (out of the tea bags) in a pan for 10 minutes over a medium heat.
Add in the liquid glucose and stir well.
Strain the mixture through a sieve and let it cool completely.
Freeze using an ice cream maker or pour into a tub to freeze.
Ingredients for the biscuits :- Adapted from MY BAKING ADDICTION and the CHAI SPICED SUGAR COOKIES. Makes 36 approx.
13oz plain flour
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt (Maldon is good for flavour & crunch)
1 teabags worth of Earl Grey tea leaves taken out of the tea bag
1 large egg
10oz soft brown sugar
8oz butter
Method :-
Pre-het the oven to 170 degrees.
Sift the flour into a bowl with the bicarb and baking powder then add in the salt and the tea.
In a food processor whip the butter with the sugar for a two minutes.
Add in the egg.
Slowly incorporate the flour mixture and stir well to combine.
Using a soup/tablespoon take spoons of the mixture and place onto a lined baking tray.
Pat down the cookies with your hands and shape into a rough circle for a well shaped circular biscuit.
For a more rustic look, just leave the biscuits once they have been placed on the tray and do not shape with your hands.
Bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
Leave the biscuits to cool and then place in the freezer in freezer bags for future use.
To assemble the ice cream sandwiches :-
Take 2 frozen biscuits and place a dollop of ice cream in the centre.
Re-freeze the ice cream sandwiches for at least half an hour before eating.
You could make up loads of sandwiches and wrap them individually in cling film for a ready made dessert.
lovely idea, must be quite a delicate flavour! yum
Thanks, yes delicate and a little floral! x
Oh this is fascinating! Love the flavourings. The other cream / condensed milk recipes I’ve seen all require the cream to be whipped then mixed with the condensed milk so this is something quite different. Very intriguing. How did texture turn out? Looks great!
Texture is rather curious, have to say, but it works. Used the ice cream maker. Not really sure what the point of the liquid glucose is, but the texture reminds me a little of PVA glue in a good way!
Such a clever idea, looks fantastic.
Thanks Janice :))x
Totally yum… I’ve been known to do this when I make snickerdoodle cookies:)
Thanks Tania! Just tried to leave a comment on your carrot fritters post but couldn’t, not sure why?
Oooh! Completely yummy, like you I’m a coffee fan , but I love the wat tea can give a real kick to quite ordinary things, what a fabulous post, two in one, biscuits and ice-cream, mmmm!
Brilliant, these would be fab on a sunny day!! The Earl Grey flavouring for both sounds lovely too! Great! 🙂
Thanks Laura, pleased you like it!
Yum yum yum! I made tea and biscuits ice cream earlier this year and it was so delicious – such a lovely combination of flavours and the earl grey works so well. Yours looks fab 🙂
Thanks so much, I do love the combination. So British too! x
Laura, this is amazing. I’ve recently had some incredibly good Earl Grey icecream, so I can imagine exactly what this tastes like. I have to ask though, if you don’t have a churn do you need to stir it during the freezing process? Or could you do the infusing, then cool the cream, then make it like a normal condensed milk icecream? (Sorry to be a pain, maybe I should just experiment myself!)