I’m pretty sure when the psalmist wrote, “Taste and see the goodness of the Lord,” it was right after he ate a bowl of Vanilla Chaiscream (Homemade Vanilla Chai Ice Cream).

Vanilla Chaiscream is HEAVENLY. And, it’s the perfect solution for anyone who lives in places where it’s still like 100 degrees by the time fall comes around (howdy, fellow Texans!). We can have a delicious fall-flavored food without breaking a sweat!

I made this ice cream a few times to make sure I got my recipe exactly where I wanted it before I shared it. I’m super excited to finally make its debut!

The flavor is inspired by something Aaron and I created when we’d visit the cafeteria in college. We’d make up some hot chai tea, pour in a bit of milk, and then pour that into a big cup of frozen vanilla yogurt. We each stirred up our concoctions and enjoyed a divine, homemade taste of heaven! We called it “chaiscream,” and the rest is history!

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Fast forward several years, and after making seemingly millions of batches of ice cream with our ice cream maker as a married couple (best wedding gift ever), we both realized we could revisit our college days and recreate a rendition of our ice cream. I used my Granny’s homemade vanilla ice cream recipe as the base for this, and my oh my. It is GOOD. Wanna make some with us?!

There’s nothing special about the brand of chai tea you use – we just use chai tea bags from our favorite grocery store. You need 5 of them.

After you simmer milk and cream together on the stove, you steep the tea bags in it for 4 minutes.

While the tea bags are steeping, you can whip together the egg yolks and sugar.

You’ll beat them together until the mixture is creamy – about 30 seconds to a minute.

Once you’ve finished steeping the tea bags, stir the liquid a bit…

And then you’ll start tempering the eggs by gradually adding in the hot liquid to the eggs/sugar mixture. You’ll just pour in 1/3 of a cup of the hot mixture to the eggs at a time, beating between each addition. I’m not one to follow directions in recipes very well – I like doing my own thing – but this part is CRUCIAL.

If you don’t temper the eggs, they’ll cook too quickly and you’ll end up with scrambled eggs. And as much as I love scrambled eggs, I like mine with cheese on top, not with ice cream. 🙂

My kitchen helpers! (Elizabeth was wearing a flower girl dress from my cousins’ wedding at the beginning of the summer. I promised her AFTER the wedding she could wear “the princess dress” any time she wanted, and she’s held me to that.)

After you’ve mixed the hot liquid with the eggs & sugar, you’ll pour everything back into the pot and cook a while longer over medium heat, continuously stirring the mixture on the stove top. You’ll do this for a few minutes – until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Here’s how you can tell when it’s done:

Pick the spoon up and then run a spatula across the back.

If the spatula draws a line straight across the back without the mixture dripping, it’s finished!

Then you’ll want to pour the mixture from one pot to another through a strainer. The first time we made this ice cream, we noticed little waxy pieces in it after we made it. They didn’t bother Aaron, but I did NOT like them – they made for a strange texture. We make ice cream all the time, but I’ve never had that issue before! We rarely make ice cream using eggs, so I think that was part of the problem. I found out running the mixture through the strainer solved that problem.

See all those waxy bits that the strainer caught? Problem solved!

Pour the liquid into the mixing bowl, allow it to cool down, and then cover with cling wrap. Press the cling wrap all the way to the liquid – it’ll help prevent a film from forming on top while it chills in the fridge.

Place in the fridge for about 4 hours (or overnight) until it’s completely chilled, and then pour it into your ice cream maker. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, let me just tell you right now, you’re missing out on one of the greatest joys of life.

Go buy one now.

I’d be a bad friend if I didn’t tell you to do so.

Churn it for about 20-25 minutes or until the mixture is thick and creamy.

You can eat it right away, but if you want it a little firmer, pour it into a container and freeze it for a couple of hours before eating it.

Don’t forget to lick the ice cream maker bowl. This is probably one of the most important steps of the entire recipe.

After you prepare the ice cream, scoop it into bowls and enjoy!

Absolutely delicious!

It’s like a frozen chai tea latte.

 

I don’t know what ice cream recipe we’re going to try out next, but it’s going to have to be a good one to match up to chaiscream!