Oolong... syrup?
Posted: May 6th, '06, 00:52
So, I have been thinking on it all day. While I do appreciate tea on many levels as a beverage, I am... concoction-enabled, you might say. That is, everything is suspect as a condiment for my cooking.
That said, I am a huge fan of ice cream. Particularly, I enjoy making my own vanilla ice cream with white pepper in it, which gives it a good kick or bite in the aftertaste, once the vanilla taste fades.
So, I figure, why not make tea into a syrup for ice cream?
The first thing that came to mind was to just whip out the old tin of Twinings earl grey and experiment the hell out of it, but that seemed not only disrespectful, but also seemed to be a horrible match- smoky, tart earl grey tea with lofty, uplifting vanilla ice cream? Ew.
So! I turn to the tea that captures my imagination on rainy days- oolong. The light, ethereal quality in its aftertaste makes it a perfect combatant for the tangy bite of pepper, and brings up a nice compliment to the vanilla.
But I can't figure out how to thicken the tea without destroying its beautiful bouquet. Thoughts? Ideas? I've got a suggestion for blending it with a caramel syrup so that it would harden and create sort of a shell, but... I am skeptical.
Help?
That said, I am a huge fan of ice cream. Particularly, I enjoy making my own vanilla ice cream with white pepper in it, which gives it a good kick or bite in the aftertaste, once the vanilla taste fades.
So, I figure, why not make tea into a syrup for ice cream?
The first thing that came to mind was to just whip out the old tin of Twinings earl grey and experiment the hell out of it, but that seemed not only disrespectful, but also seemed to be a horrible match- smoky, tart earl grey tea with lofty, uplifting vanilla ice cream? Ew.
So! I turn to the tea that captures my imagination on rainy days- oolong. The light, ethereal quality in its aftertaste makes it a perfect combatant for the tangy bite of pepper, and brings up a nice compliment to the vanilla.
But I can't figure out how to thicken the tea without destroying its beautiful bouquet. Thoughts? Ideas? I've got a suggestion for blending it with a caramel syrup so that it would harden and create sort of a shell, but... I am skeptical.
Help?