Vanilla-Caramel Ice Cream

Tickle your taste buds with this cool, smooth frozen treat infused with black tea—ideal for a lazy summer afternoon outdoors.
Vanilla-Caramel Ice Cream
Makes about 2 quarts
4 cups half-and-half1 cup sugar5 bags vanilla-caramel black tea*1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise and scraped, seeds reserved2 (12.25-ounce) jars prepared caramel topping, divided12 egg yolks1 (4-ounce) box chocolate dessert shells**Garnish: white and dark chocolate curls
1. In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the half-and-half, sugar, tea bags, seeds from scraped vanilla bean, and 1 jar prepared caramel topping. Heat until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat. Let steep 5 minutes; remove tea bags.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth. Using a ladle, pour 1 cup of the hot half-and-half mixture in a slow, steady stream into the beaten yolks, whisking constantly. Slowly add a second cup of half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly.
3. Transfer the yolk half-and-half mixture back to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, or until mixture reaches 180° on an instant-read thermometer.
4. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a stainless-steel bowl set in an ice bath. Stir frequently.
5. Freeze the custard in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Before transferring the ice cream to the freezer to set, swirl in the remaining jar of caramel topping.
6. To serve, scoop ice cream into chocolate dessert shells. Garnish with dark and white chocolate curls, if desired.
*For testing purposes, our kitchen used Lipton Vanilla Caramel Truffle Tea.
**For testing purposes, our test kitchen used Bissinger’s Dessert Shells.

From Teatime Magazine