I make ice cream at home all the time, thanks to the decision to buy an ice cream maker. Normally our home-made ice cream won’t last long, because believe it or not, it’s way better than store-bought ice cream. I can’t explain why, but we barely buy ice cream now.

Strangely this batch of Earl Grey ice cream has been sitting in our freezer for weeks. It’s creamy, rich and not too sweet, just like the way we like our ice cream to be. It has the right amount of that classic Earl Grey flavour too. Everything seemed right except every time when I had it, I kept telling myself something was missing.

A couple days ago I was making monkey bread with some caramel sauce leftover. Then that jar of Earl Grey ice cream came into my mind, and suddenly I had everything figured out. I couldn’t wait but took out the ice cream, scooped out a spoonful, put a little caramel on top before it went into my mouth. And OH MY GOD! You can probably picture what happened next.

You might find the Earl Grey ice cream good enough for your palate, which is wonderful. But unless you hate caramel, otherwise you will have to give it a try!

Ingredients (about 1 quart):
Earl Grey Ice Cream
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/3 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 Earl Grey tea bags
4 large egg yolks
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Salted Caramel Sauce
1 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup water
1 stick unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:
In a medium saucepan, combine milk, heavy cream, honey and salt. Bring mixture to simmer, until honey is dissolved. Remove from heat, place tea bags in the mixture and let it steep for 5 minutes. Discard tea bags.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until pale, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in half of the warm cream mixture, mix until blended. Stir yolk mixture into the remaining cream mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, about 2 to 3 minutes.
Strain custard into another medium bowl, let cool over a bowl of ice water, or chill in the refrigerator, stirring occasionally.
Process custard and food colouring in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours.To prepare the caramel sauce, in a heavy saucepan set over low heat, combine the sugar and water and heat just until the sugar is dissolved. Add the butter. Let it come to a boil and cook until it reaches a golden caramel colour.
Remove from the heat and add the cream slowly. Be careful as it will splatter. Whisk to combine and put back on the stove. Let it come to a boil again over low heat and cook 10 to 15 minutes until you reach a nice creamy consistency. Mix in sea salt and let cool slightly.
Drizzle the caramel sauce over the ice cream and serve.