Jeanne Schwartz with the not so classic green tea ice cream she missed while living abroad.
By Jeanne Schwartz
One of the hardest things about living abroad was living away from my kitchen. Anyone who has even helped cook dinner at a friend’s house knows how disorienting this feels. Maybe there’s only one decent knife or two knives but one cutting board. 
Or maybe you lived in Germany for six months with no working oven and without your ice cream maker to mess around with. It’s the little things, people.
The thing is, the ice cream in Germany was actually incredible. Rich, creamy, made fresh in most places and most importantly: cheap and plentiful. I’m taking 1€ per scoop (or kugel) and at least 1 shop per block in the commercial areas.
But what they didn’t have (and believe me, I made a few mistakes trying to find it) was green tea ice cream. Possibly my favorite kind- not too sweet, not too bitter, just a perfect creamy and refreshing end to the best (and obviously the most authentic) Japanese meals.
A disclaimer: This isn’t really classic green tea ice cream. I wussed out when I saw the price of pure macha at the Japanese specialty store and went for something called ‘Genmaicha’ which promised to contain macha. It also contained toasted brown rice and corn. And it was amazing. So don’t fear, no matter what you end up coming home with, this ice cream should turn out lightly green and totally delicious.
PrintGreen Tea and Toasted Brown Rice Ice Cream
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 6 1x
Description
A refreshing and light way to end any meal or begin any day! (Green tea contains caffeine)
Ingredients
- 2 C Heavy Cream (480 ml)
- 1 C Whole Milk (240 ml)
- 6 Egg Yolks
- 1 1/2 C Sugar (300 ml)
- 1/4 – 1/2 C Matcha (to taste) (60-120ml)
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract (5 ml)
Instructions
- Heat cream and milk together over low heat.
- While heating cream/milk, whisk egg yolks together with sugar in a large bowl until lightened in color.
- Temper the eggs. When the cream/milk is warm but not bubbling, slowly add it (one small ladle at a time) to the egg-sugar mixture, whisking vigorously with each addition to avoid curdling.
- Once all of the cream mixture has been added to the eggs, pour all of the mixture except about 1/8 cup back into the pot and keep on very low heat.
- Add the matcha to the mixture left in the bowl and whisk to form a paste. It may be a little lumpy.
- Add the paste to the pot and stir to combine, keeping it on a very low heat.
- Stir the custard until it has thickened and can coat the back of a spoon.
- Add the vanilla and cook one minute more.
- Pour the custard through a fine strainer into a bowl in an ice bath and let it cool completely in the fridge.
- Once cooled, whip out your ice cream maker and follow manufacturer’s instructions.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 1 hour 30 mins
Where exactly does the toasted brown rice come into play? It’s not even mentioned in the actual recipe.