These Chai Boba Ice Cream Bars are nothing short of being on trend right now. And the best part is that you don’t need an ice cream maker – I’ll show you two different ways you can make this.
The ice cream base consists of whipped cream flavored with tea and whole spices such as cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, mace, and star anise along with soft and chewy brown sugar boba.
The first way to do this without churning is simply adding sweetened condensed milk (like with every 3 ingredient ice cream recipe on the internet) and the second way is cooking egg yolks and sugar in a double broiler and then adding it to the whipped cream (similar to semifreddo). The first way is easier but to be honest the second way tastes closer to traditional ice cream.
As for the boba, don’t make the same mistake I did and use tapioca pearls. When they freeze, they freeze hard! I did some research and realized you have to use glutinous rice flour in order for this recipe to work. The pearls were actually incredibly easy to make and cooked in minutes. I finished them by tossing them in a brown sugar syrup.
I have to give credit where it’s due. Edd Kimber from “The Boy Who Bakes” (if you remember he’s from the Great British Bakeoff) had the brilliant idea of steeping heavy cream with tea bags directly instead of just adding chai to the whipped cream. I’ve made his masala chai ice cream recipe before (huge fan, I linked his website below) and so I adapted it into these boba ice cream bars. (By the way please check out his recipes, they’re awesome.)
https://www.theboywhobakes.co.uk/recipes/2017/7/14/no-churn-chai-ice-cream?rq=chai%20ice%20cream
Chai Boba Ice Cream Bars
(adapted from The Boy Who Bakes masala chai no-churn ice cream)
Ingredients
Chai Ice Cream Base
- 1/2 c heavy cream
- 1 tea bag (or 1 tsp of tea leaves)
- 1 tsp whole spices (cardamom, cloves, cinnamon, mace, star anise)
- 1.5 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk OR 2 egg yolk + 2Tbsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 tiny pinch of salt
Boba
- 1/4 cup glutinous rice flour
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp hot chai (no sugar added) or hot water
Brown Sugar Syrup
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1.5 Tbsp water
Instructions
Ice Cream Base
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Add the heavy whipping cream, whole spices, and tea bags/leaves into a container. Cover and allow mixture to sit in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
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Strain the whipping cream and beat into stiff peaks using an electric mixture.
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Add in the vanilla and salt.
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Now you have two options. You can either stir in sweetened condensed milk or if you want more of a traditional ice cream base you can whisk two egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl and cook over a double broiler. Basically add water to a pot and bring to a simmer and then take your bowl with the eggs and sugar and put it on top of the pot (without touching the water) and whisk it over until the yolks turn pale. (If this is confusing, just search it on youtube, I promise you it's easy!) After the yolks mixture has cooled add it to the whipped cream.
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Taste and adjust for sweetness.
Boba
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In a bowl mix your glutinous rice flour, brown sugar, and hot chai (may substitute with hot water). Mix with a spatula or your hand. Combine to form a dough.
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Roll the dough out into a thin log and cut into tiny pieces. Roll each piece into a ball.
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Make sure to coat the ball with extra flour. This ensures they won't stick when cooking.
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Bring a small pot of water to boil. Add in your boba pearls. Once they float to the top, take them out using a slotted spoon. It should only take a few minutes.
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Now in a small sauce pan, make the brown sugar syrup. Add the brown sugar and water. Bring to a simmer and add in your boba. Cook until the syrup thickens.
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Allow your boba/brown sugar mixture to cool and then add it to the ice cream base. Freeze in popsicle molds overnight.
