Update for the Year of the Dragon Feast 2024: I added only two packets of the matcha powder (from Trader Joe's) and this ice cream was delightful! I garnished with a sesame-honey almond.
I'm not one to like green tea, but I seem to remember having green tea ice cream at an Asian restaurant or two and loving it.
Well, finding green tea powder was not easy. I looked in the international sections of grocery stores and in two Asian markets within a twenty-five-minute drive of home. Where did I finally find it? Trader Joe's. Thank goodness they opened a Trader Joe's in Fort Myers last year.
The recipes I found all used powder (not Matcha drink mixes). They seemed easy enough. One called for a bit of vanilla and eggs in the cooked custard. The easiest one called for 5 T. of matcha powder and claimed one T is 6 grams. The Trader Joe's box is seven packets (equaling a total of 10.5 grams.) Gerry and I made a special trip to get more powder - and at $7.99 per box, it seemed an expensive endeavor. Ah well. When pouring the packets out, I had second thoughts about 30 grams of powder and used only 21. Well, I should have listened to my head and used only one box. The ice cream is very strongly flavored. We shall see!
I ended up making it with Jeni's ice cream base because I knew that would work. This added a few more ingredients than the four in the "easy" recipes I found online that called for milk, cream, Matcha powder and salt.
So, I made the custard mix with the usual ingredients. In addition, I mixed 14 (but use only 7!!) packets of the Matcha powder with 1/2 c. of the heavy cream. Use an immersion blender to make sure it is totally mixed. (Or blend in a blender.) Warm the milk/cream and sugars as the Jeni's base calls for and then add the Matcha/cream to the pot. Boil just 3 minutes, take off the heat, and add the slurry. Turn back on the heat and boil 1 minute until thickened. Mix in the cream cheese and salt. (I always use an immersion blender in the deep pot to make sure the cornstarch and cream cheese have blended. Add 1 tsp. vanilla.
Cool on ice for an hour or so and process in the ice cream maker for 60 minutes and pack into container to freeze at least eight hours.
Ice cream base:
The base recipe is 2-1/3 cups milk, 1-1/2 heavy cream, 3/4 cup sugar, 1/4 c Light Karo. Heat to boiling and boil 3-4 minutes, stirring. Take off heat and stir in a slurry of 2 T cornstarch mixed with about 1/4 c of the milk (above). Bring back the heat and stir until thickened. Take off heat, mix in 2 T softened cream cheese and a generous pinch of sea salt. I use an immersion blender to take out any lumps. At some point all recipes will tell you when to mix in flavorings, syrups, and other ingredients. Pour the hot custard into a cold pan that can settle safely on a container that holds ice water. Pour into ice cream maker or compressor when it’s cool. Process according to the machine/maker.
