London fog ice cream is a beautiful ice cream flavour that combines Earl Grey tea and vanilla. Easy to make, this no churn London fog ice cream brings you the flavours of the London fog beverage in the fresh and creamy form of homemade ice cream. No ice cream machine required for this London fog no churn ice cream!
An ice cream machine is high on my list. I want to be able to make delicious gelato at home. The key to good ice cream is the use of the right ingredients and I can’t wait to try my hand at that art. Because let’s just say it – gelato is an art.
Yet, I still haven’t gotten around to buying myself such a machine. Been re-organizing the space in my kitchen and it’s not a good time (yet) to welcome a new kitchen appliance. We live in a rather small apartment and space is limited. The pressure cooker I got for Christmas has lived on the kitchen table for a handful of months before I was eventually able to find it a suitable storage place. The problem is, it’s not like I totally lack the space. It’s more like I am bad at occupying it.
While I am confident that sooner rather than later I will finally get my hands on an ice cream machine – while also ensuring it will have a designated storage space that is not my kitchen table – I have to rely on no churn ice cream recipes for the time being. Guess what, making homemade ice cream is actually pretty easy.
London fog ice cream
So I recently ventured into making no churn ice cream. Funny enough, while I was pondering whether I should buy myself a churner or maybe organize the space in my kitchen first, I got challenged by a food blogging colleague, Nick from Blogtastic Food to create a no churn ice cream flavour. He had made a pretty awesome one and was challenging other bloggers to get bold and come up with even more awesome flavours.
London fog is a favourite beverage of mine. I love Earl Grey tea. With milk. And vanilla syrup. Seriusly, in the winter I could have a cup of London fog anytime. I have a hard time saying what it is that I love the most – the Earl Grey tea, the hot milk or the vanilla syrup. One thing’s for sure, together they’re a recipe for perfection. So now I had to come up with a no churn ice cream flavour and I wanted to make one I’d love. I am in such a big gelato mood that I wanted to prove myself I am perfectly able to make it at home. Even without an ice cream machine.
By the way, this is my London fog recipe.
How to make no churn London fog ice cream
The basis to no churn ice cream making are pretty standard. All you need is whipped cream and (sweetened) condensed milk. It’s that simple. If you don’t have any other ingredients at hand, you’re good to go with those two. You don’t even need an electric mixer if you’re up for some exercise with a hand whisk. What you need, obviously, is a freezer. And a container – preferably one made of metal for better chilling. Square or rectangular cake pans (especially loaf pans) are great for this.
To make London fog ice cream you need to play with two key flavours: Earl Grey tea and vanilla. In this London fog ice cream recipe the Earl Grey tea is steeped directly in the cream, to release its full flavour right into one of the two key ingredients. It’s what we’re doing also in Earl Grey panna cotta, by the way. As for the vanilla, in this London fog ice cream I have used real vanilla bean, whereas in the beverage I usually go with vanilla syrup.
Earl grey flavoured cream
To make tea flavoured cream I chose to use loose leaf Earl Grey tea and cook it directly in the cream. The first time I came across tea-flavoured whipped cream I remember that teabags were being used. I chose to go with loose leaf, instead. Loose leaf tea is much stronger. With 2 tsp of loose leaf tea I was able to give quite an intense flavour to almost half a litre of cream.
Instead of steeping the tea in the hot cream, just like you would when making tea in hot water, I added the tea to the cold cream and brought it to a boil together. As the cream cooks and warms, the tea already starts releasing its flavour. I then removed the cream from the heat just before it reached boiling temperature. By then the tea had already released most of its flavour. I kept steeping it as I cooled my cream in an ice water bath, and once it cooled to room temperature I eventually strained it.
Cream needs to be chilled to fridge temperature for best results when making whipped cream. Once chilled, Earl Grey tea flavoured cream whips like regular cream. To make London fog ice cream you want to also add some vanilla bean to the cream before whipping. Then it’s all about folding in the condensed milk and placing your ice cream in the freezer to set (5-6 hours minimum). Enjoy your London fog ice cream!
London fog ice cream (no churn)
Ingredients
- 480 ml heavy cream
- 395 g sweetened condensed milk
- 2 tsp loose leaf Earl Grey tea
- 1/2 vanilla bean
Instructions
- Combine the heavy cream and loose leaf tea in a saucepan and set on medium heat. Stir from time to time, the tea will release its flavour and colour as the cream warms. Remove from the heat just before it reaches boiling temperature. Transfer the saucepan to an ice water bath to cool to room temperature. When the mixture has cooled down, strain the cream to remove tea leaves and place in the fridge/freezer to chill completely. If chilling it in the freezer, make sure to stir it and check that it cools homogeneously and does not begin to freeze on the surface and bottom.
- When the tea-flavoured cream has cooled to fridge temperature, cut the vanilla bean pod in half and scrape the beans down into the cream. Whip the cream using an electric mixer. The cream needs to be whipped to hard peaks, making sure not to overbeat it.
- Pour the condensed milk into the whipped cream and fold it in. Pour the ice cream mixture into a container and place it in the freezer. Allow about 5-6 hours in the freezer to set before serving.
I’m going to surprise my hubby with your London fog ice cream. He loves earl grey tea but I can guarantee he’s never had it in an ice cream. I can’t wait to make this for him. (And for me.)
I hope you’ll both love it!
Creamy, delicious and unique flavor.
Thank you!
Homemade ice cream is truly the best! I’ve never had London Fog before so I’ll have to give it a try!
Either as the hot beverage or as the ice cream from this recipe, I’ll always recommend London Fog!
Whoa, what a beautiful combination! This sounds incredibly delicious, I can’t wait to grab some cream so I can make this easy ice cream at home!
Thank you Aleta!
What an idea!! I may also try it with Paris tea from Harney and Sons!
Sounds delicious!
This is such a lovely idea! I love Earl Grey tea but have never tried it in ice cream. Definitely have to try this!
If you love Earl Grey you’re gonna love it in ice cream form!
I’m been wanting to make no-churn ice cream since the weather got warmer. This sounds like a great recipe to try. Love the flavor combo!!
I’m a total novice when it comes to no churn ice cream but I’m already addicted!
London Fog Ice Cream??? Holy smokes! This looks amazing. I’ve actually never made a no churn ice cream but I’m going to try this. Thank you so much for sharing the recipe an all the useful tips in the post!
You are very welcome, Rebecca!
What a delicious looking ice cream. I’ve never thought about the addition of Earl Grey tea to make a frozen dessert. Sounds wonderful. And don’t you just want to hug and kiss the person who thought up no churn? I do!! And I wouldn’t worry about buying an ice cream machine when you can make delicious ice cream like this. Your photos tempt me to jump right in and grab that scoop.
Aww thank you Marisa! Yeah, I had never tried no churn as I was skeptical but seeing the result I was immediately hooked. Such a fantastic recipe and you can adapt it to create so many flavours!
Ha-ha! I looove the name “London Fog” ice cream! It looks so yummy and I bet it tastes amazing! Definitely need to try this new flavor!)
Hope you’ll enjoy your portion of London Fog 🙂
What a great way to have your favorite hot drink all summer long. This will make the perfect afternoon treat when the days are hot and steamy.
Yeah, no need to wait for colder days to enjoy a favourite flavour combination!
I have never heard of a no churn ice cream before but it sounds delicious, I usually start my day with earl grey so Im sure Id love this
Thank you Analida. You definitely have to try this if you love your daily dose of Earl Grey!
I love Early Gray tea and I would have never thought to put it in an ice cream! But now I can’t wait to try this recipe! The texture looks absolutely amazing! Loving this!
I was honestly surprised that no churn homemade ice cream can be so creamy! I’m in love with this recipe.
This is all I can think of! I am needing this to snack on right now.
Thank you Des!
I’ve made no-churn ice cream before, with the same technique (whipping cold cream and folding in condensed milk), but this one just failed to whip. I’ve left the mixture in the fridge for 2 hours before whipping it, and it just grows bubbly and not increasing in volume. I’m putting it back in the fridge tonight and will try again tomorrow.
Hi! That is very strange, as the addition of tea should not make the cream unwhippable. What’s the fat percentage in your cream? Here we can buy anything between 33 and 40% and the fatter one is obviously best. I am so very sorry this happened to you. If it fails again, add gelatine and turn it into a london fog panna cotta 🙂
I also had issues whipping! I think heating the cream changes the molecular arrangement or something (I am no chemist but I heard of this before)… I added a bit of cornstarch and crème de tarte and it whipped right up!
I prefer to use my ice cream maker, and I’ve never used a no churn recipe in it. Do I simply eliminate the whipping of the cream?
Hi Tammy! Unfortunately I don’t have an ice cream machine, so I have no experience with it. Do you usually use condensed milk in your ice cream recipes? I think that the safest bet would be to use a trusted vanilla ice cream recipe and use earl grey infused cream according to the proportions in the recipe. In the end, you want the earl grey and vanilla flavour combo to get the London fog flavour. Best of luck!
Add lavender, you won’t be disappointed.
Hi Kimberly! Will try,thanks for the tip!
What !!! I love Earl Grey tea🥰How have I never heard of London Fog Ice Cream. I will be trying forth with🤗Thanks !!
Hi Sheilah! I hope you will love the ice cream as much as the tea latte!!
This looks so good! What a unique flavor that makes it worth creating from scratch!
Thank you! I hope you enjoyed it!
Thanks for sharing! Does it keep long?
Hi Vanessa, it will keep about 2-3 weeks in an airtight container.
I love a London Fog Latte from Starbucks and I also have made them at home! So delicious! I will have to make this ice cream soon!!! I’ve made a no-churn chocolate chip ice cream so I’m familiar with no-churn. So easy!!
Thank you Linda, I hope you’ll enjoy it!
This looks so good! What a great summer treat to make for the family!
Thank you so much Suzanne! 🙂
Thanks for sharing! Can I make other flavors with the base?
Hi Vanessa, Yes absolutely you can customize it as you prefer!