Hojicha ice cream recipe

Ingredients

• 1¾ oz (50 g) hojicha loose tea
• 13½ fl oz/1 2/3 cups (400 ml) whole milk
• 7 fl oz/generous ¾ cup (200 ml) double (heavy) cream
• 4 egg yolks
• 3½oz/½ cup (100 g) caster (superfine) sugar

• 5½oz/¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
• 4 fl oz/½ cup (120 ml) water
• 2 oz/¼ cup (60 g) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 4 fl oz/½ cup (120 ml) double (heavy) cream
• 3½oz/scant ½ cup (100 g) sweet white miso (preferably Saikyo)
• ½ tsp fine sea salt

1. Start by making the sweet white miso caramel sauce. Place the sugar and measured water in a pan over a medium heat and stir constantly until the sugar has completely dissolved. When the syrup starts to bubble up, stop stirring and allow it to boil undisturbed until thickened and lightly brown in colour. Remove the pan from the heat and mix in the butter. Next slowly add the cream it will bubble up and splatter, so watch out. Using a long spatula, stir the cream into the mixture until smooth. Finally, add the sweet white miso and sea salt, and continue stirring until both are completely dissolved, you may want to use an electric whisk or hand blender to help you with this. The sauce is served warm, but can be kept in the fridge for up to 2 weeks and reheated just before using.
2. To make the ice cream, add the tea, milk and cream to a medium-sized pan, heat until nearly boiling, then simmer gently for 30 minutes. Remove from the heat, allow the mixture to cool down completely, then pass through a sieve (strainer), discarding the tea.
3. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until the sugar has completely dissolved and the mixture has whitened.
4. Make a hojicha custard by heating the hojicha-infused milk and cream mixture until it starts to steam. Add the whisked egg yolk and sugar mix to the pan a little at a time, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula so that it does not catch on the bottom of the pan. On a low heat, continue stirring for about 5 minutes until the custard thickens to coating consistency (when a line remains clear as it is drawn on the back of the spatula), then remove from the heat.
5. Cool the mixture down by transferring it to a bowl over an iced water bath. Refrigerate for 24 hours if possible, then pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn until frozen following the manufacturer’s instructions; this will take about 50 minutes. Place in an airtight container and freeze until required.
6. Remove the ice cream from the freezer 5-10 minutes before serving. In the meantime, reheat the sweet white miso caramel sauce. Serve the hojicha ice cream with a generous drizzle of warm sauce.