Thai Tea Ice Cream

There's an iconic fast food mini-chain in Seattle called Dick's.  Everything they have is delicious but I think a major lure is their fries.  Weirdly limp but crazy good.  I don't know about other families, but we would always eat ours with their special tartar sauce.  So sometimes when we were little my brother & I would get to go.  And sometimes, my mom would say "Tartar sauce?  I can make that."  And proceed to throw some pickles into mayonnaise.  Not the same.  I learned early not to expect homemade versions to taste like an adored store-bought.  


It started like this:  how does one make Thai iced tea ice cream with neither Thai tea nor cream?  This is how most of my projects start–with a sweet tooth & nothing in the cupboard.  

One major difference:  this low-rent version is not that riveting orange color–I think the mixes add some dye.  Lipton tea bags do not have dye and I do not have dye so we're at this (obviously) milky-tea color.

*

So this Thai iced tea ice cream does not taste like the packaged mix I adore, but it's surprisingly good.  A step above chopped pickles & mayonnaise, if I may say so myself.  (I love you Mom)

I concocted a Thai tea approximation concentrate steeped in the milk for the ice cream, then made that into a custard.  Some people do custards in double boilers, some people temper their yolks.  I am not that patient and I don't mind whisking wildly for a few minutes so I just go for the gusto.

I would have liked to have added some tamarind paste because a) it's delicious and b) it's always hard to use up after that one pad thai but the mysterious overly aggressive fridge cleaner must have gotten to ours because I can't find it anywhere.

Thai Tea Ice Cream

Based on recipes from Giada and use real butter.

3 cups milk

10 bags black tea

8 stars anise*

1 cup sugar

3 egg yolks

1 teaspoon orange blossom water

Bring the milk to a low simmer.  Add the tea bags & star anise.  Steep for about an hour.

Strain out the tea bags & anise.  Whisk in the sugar & egg yolks.  Whisk over low heat.  It will get really foamy then start to subside.  I switch to a spoon at this point and let myself not stir so vigorously.  Go until the milk/egg mixture "coats the back of a spoon."  What does that even mean?  Go till the mixture noticeably thickens, about 8 minutes for me.

Pour into a bowl (or the large glass measure you used for the milk in the first place) and chill in the fridge till cool.  I decided mine was cool enough after 3 hours.

Put it in the ice cream machine!  My ice cream machine came second-hand, without instructions, so I let it go until it doesn't seem to be gaining any more volume.

PS: Have no fear, do not panic, go here with the extra egg whites.  They will not be wasted.  You will not be sorry.  (Make a half batch.)

*bunches of star anise... ?  star-shaped groupings... ?

**Um.  These pictures are in black & white because I'm arty the camera was set to black & white for a previous project & I forgot to change it.

Rhubarb Confetti Cake

I don't know what happend last season but somehow my husband & I totally missed the rhubarb window. We were in New York, maybe they don't have a season? Now we're in Honolulu the first stalks have appeared! To make up for last year's lack, our fridge has been stocked with stalks for the last few weeks. As delicious as rhubarb pie is, I've been getting tired of that baked-out jelly flavor and finding the crisp tartness of fresh rhubarb much more alluring. I tried to put together a cake that somehow managed to capture that. I made a pretty good one, but I think I failed on the overall crisp-tart thing. Cake just may not be the perfect vehicle. The search continues.



Cutting the rhubarb really small helps it cook quicker, and letting the vegetable (yes, vegetable) soak for a while draws the juices out, lets you skip adding liquid elswhere and prevents the whole thing from getting too soggy.

Rhubarb Confetti Cake

2 cups rhubarb, finely diced
1 cup sugar
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 eggs

Throw the rhubarb, lemon juice & sugar together in a bowl & let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.

Butter & flour a 9x9 baking dish. Preheat your oven to 400˚F. Melt the butter & let cool. Mix together the flour, baking soda & salt. Lightly beat the eggs with the cooled butter and stir in the rhubarb mixture. Add the liquid mixture to the dry and blend until just combined. Pour into baking dish, sprinkle with a little more sugar perhaps, & bake for 25-30 minutes until almost done (a cake tester comes out with a few crumbs, no globs) & just golden around the edges. Since this cake isn't turned out to cool, it continues to cook quite a bit more once it's out of the oven.

Cardamom Limeade

The subtle cardamom flavor complements the lime nicely. I like my limeade a little on the strong side & served with a glassful of crushed ice. As the ice melts its crisp, cold taste swirls with the limey-ness & dances on your tongue without ever becoming watery.

The finished beverage gets it’s slightly tea-colored hue from the turbinado sugar I like to use. It’s less refined than white sugar and therefore a little more healthy. Plus I prefer the taste: it’s more round and carmel-y without having an overbearing brown sugar flavor.



It is helpful to roll the limes on the cutting board to loosen the juices. Some people zap the fruit in the microwave for a few seconds, but not having a microwave I haven’t personally tested this method.

Whisking the sugar is tiresome & could be avoided if you have a little simple syrup (one part water, one part sugar boiled together for a few hours) on hand. I did not. In any case, letting the cardamom steep overnight will dissolve whatever sugar crystals remain.



This recipe also makes for a killer Arnold Palmer! Usually half-lemonade, half-iced tea, subbing this limeade really kicks it up a notch. I would recommend some simple sun tea for the other half: four bags Lipton in one gallon of water left in the sun for an afternoon.




Cardamom Limeade

1/2 cup lime juice (6 to 8 limes)
1/2 cup raw turbinado sugar
2 cups cold water
6 pods green cardamom

Juice the limes into a medium mixing bowl. Be sure to keep a few thin slices for garnish!

Whisk the sugar into the lime juice.

Add the water & throw in the cardamom pods whole. Leave to soak for a few hours or overnight.

Strain & serve in a tall glass filled with crushed ice and a thin slice of lime.

Makes two to four servings.