Finding the orange pieces was not easy. Well, finding them was easy. Getting to them wasn't. The closest place to me that I could probably have found them was Dylan's, and the hell I'm gonna pay $12/lb for them. That means heading all the way down to the LES for them, which takes about 45 minutes one-way. sigh
And for the tea I just used Bigelow because it was on sale for $2 at the grocery store. Now I have no problem with this brand - in fact I find it tasty. However, I do long to try the Earl Grey Provence from Mariage Frères, but at around $25 a pop I just can't do it.
I had a few different friends weigh in on this combination. One person immediately said 'yum!', another was hesitant (she doesn't like Earl Grey. gasp!), and another said it sounded good, but the combination of flavors might end up being overwhelming. I'll let you know who was right at the end of the post.
Spiced Earl Grey with Candied Orange Peel Ice Cream
Ingredients
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp sugar
3 earl grey tea bags
1 tbsp ground cardamom
handful of chopped candied orange peels
Instructions
Combine the milk and sugar into a small saucepan and heat over low heat for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to make sure the sugar fully dissolves. After the sugar is finished dissolving, put the tea bags into the milk, and continue to heat over low for another 5 minutes, or until you see the tea beginning to steep (aka my milk started to turn light brown). Remove from heat and let sit for 15-20 minutes with a lid over it.
This is what color mine was before I proceeded.
(sorry it's a little blurry!)
Next I whisked in the heavy cream and a tablespoon of ground cardamom. Now, I love cardamom. It is hands down one of my favorite spices, and I can never get enough of it. I always say the more the better! So digest that for a moment and then take into consideration the fact that I'm telling you that maybe one tablespoon of it might be a little too much. I probably should have scaled back the measurement to two teaspoons.
....still can't believe I think there is too much of it.
As this batter chilled in the fridge I chopped the orange peels. I don't mind orange peels, but sometimes they are a little too bitter for me. I briefly considered just putting some orange zest into the batter when I was feeling too lazy to go across town for the candy.
What's crazy is that this batter took twice as long as the Spiced Plum, and it still wasn't finished! I left this to churn for 16 minutes, and once again it looked finished but had some liquid stored at the bottom I couldn't see till I had already unloaded the ice cream maker into some tupperware for storage. I don't understand why this batter took nearly as long to churn as a full recipe. :/
Anywho, is still finished with a strong flavor. Though, the cardamom did lend a slight texture to the otherwise creamy treat. It wasn't gritty, but was almost chalky. It was weird. I guess that since cardamom doesn't necessarily dissolve that it would leave behind a texture, but I've had cardamom ice cream before that was very creamy. Hmmm I wonder what that company did. I'm sure that be decreasing the amount by a third would help somewhat with that issue. Also, the orange peels added absolutely nothing to the product. I even caught myself scooping out bites around the peel chunks. Would zest have been better? I'm beginning to believe that no citrus additive is probably the best thing for it.
Overall it's a solid ice cream, but there is definitely room for improvement.
Oh and I ate too much of it before I remembered to take a picture of it. Hence why there is no picture! teehee
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