Hojicha Ice Cream (Printable)

Creamy Japanese dessert with roasted green tea's nutty, caramel notes

# Components:

→ Dairy

01 - 2 cups heavy cream
02 - 1 cup whole milk

→ Tea

03 - 3 tablespoons hojicha loose leaf tea or 4 hojicha tea bags

→ Egg Mixture

04 - 4 large egg yolks
05 - 2/3 cup granulated sugar
06 - Pinch of fine sea salt

# Directions:

01 - In a saucepan, combine the heavy cream and whole milk. Heat over medium heat until steaming but not boiling.
02 - Add the hojicha tea to the heated milk mixture. Reduce heat to low, cover, and steep for 10 minutes to extract the tea's nutty flavor.
03 - Strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, pressing gently on the tea leaves to extract maximum flavor. Return the infused milk to the saucepan.
04 - In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, granulated sugar, and salt until pale and slightly thickened, approximately 2-3 minutes.
05 - Slowly pour approximately 1 cup of the warm hojicha mixture into the yolk mixture, whisking constantly to gradually raise the temperature and prevent scrambling.
06 - Pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hojicha-infused milk, stirring thoroughly to combine.
07 - Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of the spoon, reaching 170-175°F (77-80°C) internal temperature.
08 - Strain the custard into a clean bowl through a fine mesh sieve. Allow to cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours until completely chilled.
09 - Transfer the chilled custard to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions until it reaches soft-serve consistency.
10 - Transfer the churned ice cream to an airtight freezer container and freeze for at least 2 hours before serving to achieve firm scoopable texture.

# Expert Advice:

01 -
  • It's the kind of sophisticated dessert that makes people pause mid-bite to ask what they're tasting.
  • Hojicha's natural caramel notes mean you get depth without being heavy or overly sweet.
  • Once you nail the custard base, you've got a template for experimenting with any tea you love.
02 -
  • If your custard breaks or looks grainy, you cooked it too hot; next time, use a thermometer and stop at 175°F exactly—raw eggs are safer than scrambled custard.
  • Loose leaf hojicha matters more than you'd think; tea bags often contain dust and broken leaves that make the flavor muddy instead of clean and toasted.
  • Don't skip the 4-hour chill; warm custard churns into grainy ice cream, but cold custard becomes that creamy dream.
03 -
  • If you don't have an ice cream maker, whip the chilled custard with a hand mixer until soft peaks form, freeze for 2 hours, whip again, and repeat twice more for a surprisingly good result.
  • Hojicha powder works if you can't find loose leaf, but use only 2 tablespoons whisked directly into the cold custard before churning—it won't infuse as beautifully but it's better than no hojicha at all.
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