Recipe: Chocolate Jasmine Ice Cream

Makes about 5 ½ cups

- 3 ½ cups whole milk

- ½ cup heavy cream

- 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise

- ¼ teaspoon salt

- ½ cup loose jasmine tea leaves

- 6 egg yolks

- ½ cup dark brown sugar

- ½ cup muscovado or Demerara sugar (see Kitchen Note)

- 7 ounces good quality milk chocolate (about 40 percent cocoa), finely chopped

1. Pour milk and cream into a 3-quart heavy-bottomed saucepan. Scrape seeds out of vanilla bean into milk, then add bean also. Bring just to a boil, reduce heat to low and add salt and tea. Simmer 2 to 3 minutes, then remove from heat. Let stand 15 minutes.

2. When cooled, strain through a fine mesh strainer into a 4-cup measuring cup. Using the back of a spoon, press tea leaves to remove as much liquid as possible. Rinse and dry pot.

3. To make ice-cream custard, use an electric mixer to beat egg yolks with sugars until thick and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Pour cream mixture gradually into egg mixture while beating. Pour mixture into a clean pot and cook, stirring over medium-low heat until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes.

4. Place chopped chocolate in a bowl and pour hot custard over it. Let stand 1 minute, then mix thoroughly with a spatula until smooth and creamy. Let cool and refrigerate until completely chilled. Pour into the bowl of an ice cream machine and process according to manufacturer's instructions. When frozen, spoon into a stainless steel or plastic container and freeze 2 to 4 hours before serving.

Times Kitchen Note: Demerara is a natural, unrefined cane sugar with a light brown color and large, slightly sticky crystals. Muscovado sugar is a very dark brown sugar with a strong molasses flavor. Another type of muscovado sugar that's lighter in both color and flavor is also available on the market. Turbinado sugar can be used as a substitute in this recipe.

From "The New Taste of Chocolate: A Cultural & Natural History of Cacao with Recipes" by Maricel E. Presilla