Labor Day weekend, one of my best friends and I got together to "ring out" the unofficial end of summer by making some ice cream - lemon and tea-flavored, to be exact. My friend has a real penchant for tea, which is why we've made Earl Grey ice cream in the past, and Rooibos now.

The lemon ice cream recipe is a little different from your average ice cream recipe, so I'll start with that one first.


Lemon Ice Cream recipe
Yields about one quart

Ingredients
2 cups of heavy cream
2 cups of whole milk [or, instead of cream and milk, 4 cups of half-and-half]
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 tablespoons of lemon zest
5 egg yolks
Optional: 1 teaspoon of vanilla

Instructions
In a bowl, mix the heavy cream and milk together (or, conversely, use 4 cups of half-and-half instead of the cream and the milk). Pour one cup of this mixture into a saucepan, and whisk in the lemon juice, the lemon zest, sugar and eggs.

Over medium-to-high heat, bring the mixture to a simmer while whisking constantly. Strain and add the vanilla, if desired. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 to 3 hours and overnight, if possible.

Remove mixture from refrigerator when it is cold, and whisk in the other cup of half-and-half or milk-heavy cream mix. Run the mix through your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's directions, and freeze until the ice cream's texture is to your liking.


Rooibos Tea Ice Cream Recipe
Yields about one quart

Ingredients
2 cups of whole milk
2 cups of heavy cream
3/4 cup of sugar
5 egg yolks
6 Rooibos tea bags, or tuck tea into coffee filters and tie shut with string (I'd recommend using about 3 coffee filters, each filled about 1/3rd of the way)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
Salt

Instructions
Heat the milk, cream and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir occasionally until the mixture begins to steam. Remove from heat and add tea bags. Cover and steep for about 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove tea bags and place the saucepan over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and vanilla until the mixture becomes frothy. Add 2 tablespoons of the warm milk mixture to the eggs, whisking while combining so the egg does not scramble. Do this 2 or 3 times, and then add the rest of the warm milk mixture to the eggs, whisking while doing so.

Return the egg-milk mixture to the saucepan and stir over medium heat until the mixture begins to look like a custard and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Strain and add a pinch of salt, then refrigerate for at least 2 hours before putting it through your ice cream machine.


Sad to see the summer go (especially without having had tons and tons of ice cream), but autumn is my favorite time of year, for food and everything else!