If I had to pick one ice cream flavor I’d have for the rest of my life, this would be it. Gentle, flavorful, light, and satisfying. The subtlety of the roasted green tea (hojicha) is almost coffee-like. Perfection of flavors and texture right here!⠀
I’m not in the very least embarrassed to share that when we were in Japan, I had ice cream at least once a day. Yes, at least…there were days when I got a little crazy. We never had hojicha gelato, but hojicha soft serve was just incredible. After some seriously delicious recipe testing, I am excited to offer you my fantastically wonderful hojicha gelato. This is the good stuff…full of that roasted green tea coffee-like flavor, without all the extra sugar to distract you. Read more about our Japan trip here.
Hojicha Gelato
If I had to pick one ice cream flavor I'd have for the rest of my life, this would be it. Gentle, flavorful, light, and satisfying. The subtlety of the roasted green tea (hojicha) is almost coffee-like. Perfection of flavors and texture right here!⠀
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup turbinado sugar
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 30 g loose leaf hojicha tea
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
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Put the bowl of your ice cream maker in the freezer.
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Whisk the yolks and sugar together until pale yellow.
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Warm the milk and vanilla until it just lightly simmers.
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Temper the egg/sugar mixture with the milk/vanilla mixture.
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Return to the sauce pan and cook until thickened, stirring slowly and constantly. It should get to 170F.
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Remove from heat. Add the hojicha leaves to the pan. Steep for 30 minutes with the lid on.
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Add the cream. Chill in the refrigerator overnight.
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The next day, add your chilled ice cream to your ice cream maker. Churn (stir setting) until it is the thickness of soft serve ice cream, 20-25 minutes.
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Transfer to a container you can freeze, cover with parchment paper, and freeze at least 4 hours.
My favorite part about making ice cream, is how it changes from when you finish churning it to after it freezes. After churning, it has a soft-serve ice cream thickness. Absolutely delicious. Then after you freeze it, it hardens and is also delicious, yet different. Are you a soft serve or regular kinda person?