Green Tea (Matcha) Icecream

Hello Fellow Nom Seekers!

We have acquired an ice cream maker!  Kiddo requested this as her birthday present from her grandparents which they very generously bought the Cuisinart 2L ice cream maker. It has proved to be more of a present for me as I am the one playing around with it.  So far I've made a few total fails but I have also made a few winners.  One of the most popular, universally-liked-by-adults but not so much by the kids, is my green tea ice cream.  The Cuisinart came with a recipe booklet which had a green tea gelato recipe within however I felt green tea ice cream should be more creamy rather than sorbety.  So I improvised by making a rather luxe vanilla ice cream to which I added loads of matcha tea powder.  The result is a very creamy velvety textured ice cream with the clean 'bite' of the green tea flavourings.

Ingredients to make 2L worth:

• 600ml of heavy cream
• 600ml of water
• 1 cup of full cream milk powder
• 4 heaped tablespoons of matcha (green tea) powder
• 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
• 3 whole eggs
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 cup raw sugar
• 1 - 2 drops of green food colouring (optional)

Method:

• Pre freeze the ice cream canister by wrapping it snugly in plastic and putting it in the freezer for at least 24 hours before hand.  
• Heat the heavy cream, water and full cream milk powder over a medium to low heat for 30 minutes stirring occasionally to present it sticking to the bottom of the pot.  This part I found the most tedious.  
• Meanwhile using a hand held beater, mix the eggs, vanilla extract and sugar until blended.  Sprinkle in the matcha powder.  Beat again until incorporated. 
• Once the cream/milk mixture has had its 30 minutes on the stovetop, take 1 cup of the mixture out and slowly pour it into the egg and sugar mixture beating with the hand held mixer all the while.  
• Once incorporated, pour the egg and sugar mixture into the pot with the remainder of the hot milk and cream.  Turn up the heat to medium low.  Stir vigilantly as the mixture turns custard like with the heat.  The mixture should coat the back of the wooden spoon when done.  I found this took a further 10 - 15 minus to reach this stage at medium to low heat.  
• At this stage, check that you are happy with the greenness of the mixture.  If you would prefer it more vibrantly green, add a few drops of green food colouring.  
• Pour the custardy mixture into a bowl and place clingfilm directly on top of the mixture to prevent a milk skin from occurring.  
• Place mixture into the fridge to cool.  This takes a few hours.  
• Once completely cooled, churn the custard mixture through the ice cream maker for 25 mins. 
• Scoop out the ice cream when churned.  This can be eaten as is or it can be frozen for a few more hours for a stiffer texture or to serve later.  If storing this in the freezer, I have experimented and found an airtight shallow but wide container worked best as it minimised ice crystal formation.  Also I stored it with a layer of grease proof paper directly on top of the ice cream to further minimise ice crystal formation.  
• Take the ice cream out 15 - 20 mins before serving to take the chill off it a bit for a nice scoopable consistency.  

For the kiddos:

As I mentioned earlier, the green tea flavour was not really popular with the kids.  I made a kiddie version by omitting the matcha powder and throwing a few drops of food colouring in the last minute of churning to achieve a rainbow ice cream effect.  

I'm looking forward to concocting a few more less conventional flavours.  Any ideas welcomed!

Until next time...