Green Tea Ice Cream

Adapted from several recipes:

Ultimate vanilla ice cream from BBC GoodFood

簡易食譜: 綠茶雪糕

妞仔: 我的第一盒淇冰淇淋, 香草口味的

My Ingredients:

• 200ml double cream
• 300ml semi-skimmed milk
• 85g castor sugar
• 12g Matcha green tea powder
• 3 large egg yolks

My Method:

1. Heat the cream and milk over a low heat with a medium saucepan, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils - you'll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and set aside for 30 minutes or else the egg yolks added in the next step will be cooked and coagulated. 
2. Brieftly mix the egg yolks and sugar in a bowl. Scoop out about a quarter (125ml) of the cream mixture from saucepan and beat into the egg yolks. Continue until all cream has been added.
3. Pour the mixture into the saucepan. Add the green tea powder. Cook it over a low heat for about 10 minutes. Stirring the mixture with a wooden spoon until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn't boil. As soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough and the pan should be taken off the heat immediately.
4. Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl. Cover the ice cream with a cling film which has to be in contact of the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin forming on the surface.
5. Then sit the bowl in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this should take about 20 minutes but took me about 40 minutes as I used tap water). 
6. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, stirring once an hour until almost frozen.

One-line Verdict:

Quite many steps but not difficult. Just need some patience and concentration.

Verdict:

• The texture is smooth and creamy. In fact I find it creamier than most other store-bought ice cream.
• A little bit sweeter than I would like. I'll reduce the sugar content further from 85g to maybe 75g.
• The green tea flavour is mild and moderate, but the green tea powder I used seems to have paler taste than others.
• The ice cream can be a bit hard after a day or two. Just take it from the freezer 30 minutes before serving then it will be soften up.
• Approximate cost of the main ingredient: £5 (about 500 grams)