Father's Day

Arnold Palmer Ice Cream

August 25, 2012
4
4 Ratings
Photo by James Ransom
  • Serves 6
Author Notes

My kids are in an ice cream rut. Mostly, they like vanilla and chocolate, and little M&Ms on top. Yesterday, as the boys cut Play-Doh, I asked, "What kind of ice cream should we make?" My three year old exclaimed, "Chocolate-chocolate!" As he made a Magna-tile train station (and his younger brother played Godzilla), I asked, "If you could make any flavor ice cream, what would it be? Their happy reply: "Chocolate!" I love chocolate, but we've had it covered late spring through summer at Haagen Dazs, Cold Stone, Pinkberry and our local TLC. Then, I recalled my boys gulping my iced tea and lemonade, and thought, "Let's make Arnold Palmer!" And not just any Arnold Palmer - creamy, icy, crunchy, cold Arnold Palmer Ice Cream. I couldn't find a recipe, so we made our own. The result? Delicious! It's fresher than sunshine and has enough caffeine to no-doze a horse. —PassTheKnife

Test Kitchen Notes

Fore! PassTheKnife's Arnold Palmer Ice Cream will have aficionados of frozen dessert -- and golf -- in a quandary over which is better: a double eagle on the 18th at Pebble Beach, or this delightful lemony concoction. You may be tempted, as we initially were, to forego the "tea crunchies" and lemon zest topping and just spoon it up straight from the ice cream maker, but the combo adds a definite "wow," much like when Arnie ripped a 3-wood to within 18 feet of the 13th hole in the 1958 Masters. As an aside, we elected to use pasteurized raw eggs for this; you might also add an extra step and temper the eggs and make a custard. —wssmom

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 5 black tea bags
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 2 lemons
Directions
  1. The key to making ice cream is temperature - everything must start cold, be cold and say cold. So, in advance of making your ice cream, put all your ingredients nearest the cold source in your refrigerator. Also make the tea for this recipe at least a couple hours in advance. Pour boiling water into a cup with three bags of black tea, brew for ten minutes. Add 1/2 cup milk to the tea, do not remove the bags, and set aside in the refrigerator.
  2. A couple hours later, it's time to make ice cream! Get started on the cream base: Crack two eggs into a large bowl and beat them by hand or mixer until they are fluffy. Add 1 cup sugar and continue mixing until it is incorporated. Then add 2 cups of heavy cream and your milk/tea mixture (squeeze out the teas bags to get all their flavor), and beat again.
  3. Add the juice and zest of one lemon, as well as one bag of dried tea leaves, and give the whole thing a last whirl. Freeze the cream base according to how your ice cream maker works best. When the lemon ice cream is stiff, scoop it into a tupperware dish and set it aside in your freezer.
  4. Serve up and garnish with lemon zest and "tea crunchies", ie those good quality crushed tea leaves. I like Darjeeling best, because it's beautiful and has a complex bitter and floral flavor combo.
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5 Reviews

Yelena July 6, 2014
Wow, I didn't think ice cream could taste exactly like an Arnold Palmer, but this it, folks: lemony, creamy, and refreshing. The worrywart in me tempered the eggs (whole, not just yolks) in the heavy cream, sugar, plus a pinch of salt. The lemon juice/zest and milky tea blended beautifully with the custard. 5/5 stars
 
cratecooking February 5, 2013
One of the best ice cream's I've ever had! I used a very light Prince of Wales Tea and the combination of the flavors is amazing. Great recipe!
 
Chef S. September 17, 2012
What a creative twist on a drink so classic it's getting close to boring. Way to reinvent it!
 
mrslarkin September 6, 2012
this sounds awesome! and easy (my kind of recipe.)
 
drbabs August 25, 2012
yum--how cool!