la belle mangeuse's birthday eats: green tea ice cream

I made the green tea ice cream and the cake for la belle mangeuse's birthday. Here is what I did:

Homemade ice cream is SO worth the time. It is unbelievably better than commercial ice cream. This recipe is not an evening-of endeavour. You'll need to prepare the custard the night before in order for it to chill enough to properly freeze. You'll need an ice cream churn of some kind for this. I use the KitchenAid stand mixer attachment. The churning should happen at least a few hours before you plan to serve. If you don't have an ice cream churn, you can use two bowls, one that fits inside the other. The smaller one should be metal to facilitate cold transfer. Fill the big one with ice water and lots of salt, and stir the custard till your arm is about to fall off. By the time you've got ice cream, you'll have worked off enough calories to have earned it, and you'll have one set of buff biceps. :)

Green Tea Ice Cream

makes about 1 quart

1 1/2 c heavy cream

1 1/2 c whole milk

2 standard tea bags, green tea

3/4 c sugar

1/4 t salt

4 large egg yolks

2 T matcha (Japanese ceremonial powdered green tea*)

1. Position a strainer over a medium bowl set in a larger bowl containing ice water. You will use this in step 3. Heat the milk, cream, 1/2 c of the sugar and the tea bags over medium heat until steam appears and the milk is about 175 degrees.

2. Meanwhile, whisk the yolks and remaining sugar in a medium bowl until combined and pale yellow. Whisk half the warm milk mixture (be sure it's not too hot, or it will curdle the eggs) into the egg mixture 1/2 c at a time until combined. Whisk the milk-yolk mixture into the warm milk in the saucepan; set over medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until steam appears, foam subsides and the mix is slightly thickened ~ 180-185 degrees. DO NOT let this boil or the eggs will curdle.

3. Immediately strain the custard into the bowl set in the ice bath, and cool it to room temperature, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until it reaches 40 degrees or lower, 3-24 hours.

4. Prepare your ice cream churn. Remove the custard from refrigeration and stir well. Turn on churn and pour in custard. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions until it resembles soft-serve ice cream. Transfer to a freezer-safe container with a rubber or silicone spatula (to minimize the amount lost to the sides of the freezer). Cover (some folks recommend covering closely with plastic wrap). I save the containers from Chinese takeout soup for this purpose. Freeze for at least 2 hours. Will keep for a few days. If you freeze the ice cream solid, let it sit out for an hour before serving.

* In Atlanta, I found this sold by weight at Sevananda. It's freaking expensive -- about $45 a lb., but at Sev, you can just get the amount you need. I paid about $2. Sweet!