Chai Ice Cream Recipe

This Chai Ice Cream Recipe comes as a guest post from one of my favorite bloggers, Kresha of Nourishing Joy. Thanks, Kresha!

Autumn came with a vengeance where I live this weekend – while I write this I’m wrapped up in wool blankets and sipping honey caramel apple cider – so perhaps it’s odd that I’m writing an ice cream recipe to share.

However, this recipe, with rich, warm Chai spices and the nourishment of raw egg yolks from pastured hens, raw cream, and raw milk, IS most definitely a treat for every time of year — winter and summer alike. Decadence from simple, down home ingredients — now that’s worth celebrating!

(Plus, it gives you an excuse to bake Cinnamon and Molasses Cookies, which accompany this ice cream superbly, and fill your home with warmth.)

Now, I can see a few of you pausing – raw egg yolks? you say. I thought ice cream was made with a cooked custard.

You are absolutely correct. Usually ice cream is made with a cooked egg and cream custard base, but one afternoon  earlier this year while I was in a hurry to make strawberry ice cream to share with guests, I discovered that using the egg yolks raw made an über-delightful base, and I came to prefer using raw egg yolks for three reasons:

1. Using raw egg yolks is quicker – MUCH quicker. Making a cooked custard base takes a bit of time. It always made making ice cream feel like a chore, so once I added the raw egg yolks straight into the cream mixture and LOVED it, I tossed out cooked custard ice cream bases for good.

2. Egg yolks are extremely nutritious and eating them raw maximizes the nutritional benefits. Egg yolks contain caretenoids, essential fatty acids, Vitamins A, D, E, and K, calcium, iron, zinc, Omega-3 essential fatty acids, and ALL of the B-vitamins: vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6, B12, choline, biotin, and folic acid! They are also a rich source of certain minerals that can sometimes be difficult to obtain from other foods – namely selenium and iodine, so they’re an excellent way to provide what our bodies need with real, whole food. (source and source)

However, the heat-sensitive enzymes and vitamins can be minimized or negated when cooked, so I look for as many opportunities as possible to eat egg yolks raw, and ice cream is a brilliant foil for this purpose.

3. It’s lighter in texture, yet still full-flavored. While I ADORE custards in most forms (Have you tried this Pumpkin Custard or this Easy Vanilla Bean Custard? Oh, goodness! I absolutely swoon…), cooked custard bases for ice cream always felt too rich and heavy to me. By using the egg yolks raw, the flavor of custard is still very present, yet lighter, while still being thick and creamy. Just right, I’d say.

And need I convince you of the gorgeous flavors in Chai? I make homemade Chai tea concentrate regularly, even making Chai kombucha – so adding the spices to ice cream was a no-brainer for this chai lovin’ mama!

Chai Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart; serves 6

The Players:

• 2 cups raw cream
• 1 cup raw milk
• 1/2 cup raw honey (where to find raw honey)
• 1 teaspoon blackstrap molasses (where to find organic molasses)
• 1/16th teaspoon sea salt
• 1 pinch black pepper
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (where to find organic vanilla)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (where to buy authentic, fresh, out-of-this world cinnamon)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon candied ginger, finely chopped (optional) (where to find organic candied ginger)
• 1 pinch finely ground fennel seeds (optional)
• 3 egg yolks from pastured hens (remember: “organic” and “free-range” don’t mean what you think they mean)

 

Click here to find bulk, organic spices online.

 

The How-To

Combine the cream, milk, honey, molasses, salt, egg yolks, and spices in a blender or large mixing bowl. Whisk or blend until the mixture is very smooth.

Place in the refrigerator and chill thoroughly, 1-2 hours.

Pour chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer’s directions, usually about 25-35 minutes.

Serve immediately for soft-serve style or place the soft ice cream in the freezer and allow it to harden for 3-6 hours for a firmer ice cream.

Store in the freezer for up to one week.

And most importantly – ENJOY!

 

Love ice cream? Want to ditch all the processed cans, boxes, and convenient packaged freezer foods for good?

See more ice cream flavors and 167 other real food convenience foods in Kresha’s newest book, The DIY Pantry, which will be available in bookstores everywhere on January 18 and is available for pre-order now! (Hint: They make great gifts!)

Kresha blogs about real food, natural living, and joyful parenting at www.nourishingjoy.com.