This creamy and subtly spiced Ginger Tea Ice Cream (Teh Halia Ice Cream) was inspired by the sweet and invigorating Malaysian “teh halia”. It is a must-try!
Ginger tea or Teh Halia, as it is known in Malaysia is a sweet, spicy, and invigorating drink, much welcomed on cooler days. This beverage is prepared with black tea, ginger, and condensed milk. Sometimes it is pulled like Teh Tarik to make it frothy. Most people drink teh halia warm to calm the stomach after a heavy and oily meal.
When Lyndsey of The Tiny Skillet asked if I have a good ginger ice cream recipe, Teh Halia immediately came to mind. Prior to this, I had never thought of making ice cream with ginger. I was really excited with the idea and could not wait to give it a try.
I brewed a very strong ginger tea with four tea bags steeped in ginger infused, sweetened milk. After which, I combined it with the heavy whipping cream. The flavor of the ginger tea was just about right, and not at all over powering. I made it a little less sweet so that I can top it with crystallized ginger and condensed milk. The Ginger Tea Ice Cream was rich, creamy, fragrant, and quite delicious! Thank you Lyndsey for the inspiration!
The first time I made this Ginger Tea Ice Cream, I grated the ginger into the milk mixture. It had a really nice ginger flavor but the texture of the ice cream was not as smooth as I would like it to be. This time round, I smashed the ginger and left it in big chunks so that I can remove them once the milk mixture was with ginger flavor. I like it better this way, especially when the ginger chunks are left overnight in the milk mixture for a stronger flavor. Only remove the ginger chunks just before churning the ice cream.
Be sure to use mature or “old” ginger with tan, dry skin for best results. “Old” ginger is spicier and has a more fibrous texture. It also has a stronger flavor than “young” ginger.
INGREDIENTS
- 1½ cups whole milk (360ml)
- ¾ cup sugar (165g)
- 4 oz mature ginger (peeled and smashed) (113g)
- 4 unflavored black tea bags
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream (480ml)
Toppings
- Crystallized ginger (chopped) (optional)
- Condensed milk (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Freeze ice cream bowl for 24 hours.
- Heat whole milk, sugar, and ginger in a medium sized saucepan over medium low heat. Do not allow milk to come to a boil. Stir until sugar melts. Turn off stove.
- Steep unflavored black tea bags in milk mixture for 5 minutes. While tea bags are steeping, press them gently with a spatula to release more tea into the milk.
- Remove tea bags and ginger. Alternatively, ginger may be left in the milk mixture for a stronger flavor.
- Pour in heavy whipping cream and stir to combine. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
- Place frozen bowl on base of ice cream maker and turn it on.
- Remove ginger if left in the milk mixture overnight.
- Give chilled mixture a good stir before pouring into frozen ice cream bowl. Churn until desired consistency, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- If you prefer a firmer consistency, transfer ice cream to a container and place in freezer for a couple of hours.
- Serve with desired toppings.
NUTRITION
NOTE: This post was updated on September 9th, 2016 with a video, new pictures, and an additional paragraph of write-up. Minor changes were also made to the recipe.
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Biren,
I don’t believe it. I made ice-cream this afternoon and would have preferred to make this one for something different. I adore ginger and with the tea…. hmmmm. I will have to try this for another time, so recipe saved! Bon weekend to you x
Looks pretty yummy n lovely…beautiful clicks..
Tasty Appetite
i like the combination of ginger, tea and condensed milk this brings all those things together lovely and delicious for a warm day
Very unique recipe!
With the panna cotta earlier, and ice-cream today, you really make me look forward to summer (even spring just started!) ;p
Well, now, I have to choose between your lemongrass panna cotta and your ginger tea ice cream to serve at our monthly soup sunday this week! We’re serving a soup from thailand and one from Korea, and somehow both of these desserts served in tiny cups would be a nice little touch. Thanks for the great ideas.
My best,
Pam
Your monthly Soup Sunday sounds like a fun event! I am sure your soups will be very well received. Yes, the desserts will work well in little cups. 🙂
I’ve never had ginger ice cream before, how interesting. Plain ice cream itself is already enough for me to eat a whole tub, but dressed up the way you did it, I don’t know how many tubs would be enough for me…teehee.
Love the tea infusion! So creative!
Cold and warming…what a combination!
Mouthwatering. Looks so yummy…
cool! I love ginger ice cream. Nice presentation 🙂 I made once before ginger ice cream with rum.
Wow…with rum! Sounds wonderful!
Extremely mouth-watering, more so after reading the recipe! The colours look good too, and the candied ginger is definitely a “plus” garnish!
Ro-Ri San and I do like this exciting new flavor. Will definitely make it again. 🙂
Wow, teh halia ice cream is really the best Asian flavor one can possibly think of! You’re a genius, Biren… and now you make me want to make similar flavored teh tarik ice creams!
It’s fun to play around with all these delicious Asian flavors. I am loving this ice cream. 🙂
Biren, this is such a beautiful ice cream. The color is so pretty with the candied ginger and condensed milk spilling down the sides.
Kristi
ginger, tea and condensed milk, what a great combo. the ice cream makes me dream of summer.
Thanks for sharing Biren
wow The combination of fresh ginger and tea in ice cream sounds heavenly! A perfect treat for F1 racing!
tempting clicks dear…..ice cream sounds mouthwatering….
Looks gorgeous and loved the ginger flavor for the icecream! awesome
Oh La La Biren, I really like this ice cream and think it would finish off a meal nicely or just by itself on a warm Summer’s day 😉
Love this ice cream! I have a friend that owns an ice cream shop here in NY and she would love this recipe! I will have to tell her about this flavor…yum!
mouthatering and tempting
1st time here .wonderful space
do visit my blog
Hi Santosh! Thanks for visiting! I will visit you soon. 🙂
Such a refreshing, unusual and delicious ice cream, Biren. I sure would love to make this for today, It’s going to be 90 degress today, here in S. Florida.
Beautiful presentation, as well:D
Have a wonderful Sunday:-D
Wow this is a really nice local flavour! Bravo for trying it for the rest of us who just thought about it 🙂 Love the crystallized ginger to finish it off!
This looks delicious! Love the addition of ginger! Creamy frozen teh halia tarik! Yummmy!
I have never tried ginger flavoured ice cream, this sounds so intriguing…:)!!
Wow, that sounds delicious! Tea and ginger are some of my favourite -and now in ice cream form!!
Biren,
You’ve really outdone yourself with this one. Man does that sound good! I’m guessing the sharpness of the ginger paired with the creaminess of the dairy is absolutely amazing.
Biren, I can’t believe I missed this! Thanks for the reminder, and thanks for this wonderful ice cream. I am definitely going to try it! Actually I wish I could grab a bite of yours sitting so pretty ion the photo. I wonder if I could add the crystallized ginger through the whole thing? I love that it’s a little less sweet )like it was made for me) and the ginger with the sweetened condensed milk is like the cherry on top! Ha!
Thank you for the mention, I am so happy to be an inspiration if this is the results!
You are most welcomed Lyndsey. Hubby and I really enjoyed this ice cream and I plan to make it again soon. The condensed milk is totally optional if you prefer it less sweet. The 4 oz of ginger I added is about right but you can definitely mix in the crystallized ginger if you like it even more gingery.
This is my idea of heaven in a cup!
Ginger and ice cream, glorious 🙂
Wow Biren, this ice cream sounds simply amazing. I wonder how it tastes like. Must try it out one day. This is so cool!
Thanks for sharing. Hope you’re having a great week.
Kristy
I wish I had a scoop of this right now! Delicious! Ginger is one of my favorite flavors!
oh YUM… this may be a good winter ice cream… 🙂
I adore ginger. This recipe makes me smile and I can’t wait to make it. I’m not sure if I’ll include the tea since that’s one thing I can’t stand at all, but the rest of it sounds perfect. Many thanks!
This is so pretty!!! I bookmarked and “pinned” this recipe to try soon. I love ginger and can’t wait to try this. I need to get an ice cream maker, also 😉
Thanks Sarah! This ice cream is really good topped with crystallized ginger. Have not made it for a while. I need to make some soon. 🙂