Vanilla Chai Spice Custard Ice Cream

Instructions

1. Set a fine-mesh sieve over a clean bowl. Warm the cream, milk, and half of the sugar in a saucepan until steaming. Add the Assam tea and chai spices to the dairy, remove from the heat, steep 5 minutes, then strain and return the dairy to the saucepan before tempering the yolks. Whisk in the ground cardamom while the dairy is warm. Whisk in the ground cinnamon while the dairy is warm. Whisk in the ground ginger while the dairy is warm. Small bubbles may appear around the edge, but the dairy should not boil.
2. Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar and salt until the mixture is smooth and slightly lighter in color.
3. Slowly whisk about 1 cup of the hot dairy into the yolks. Return the tempered yolk mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. The custard is ready at about 170°F (77°C), when it lightly coats the back of a spoon and a finger drawn through it leaves a clean path.
4. Immediately strain the custard into the clean bowl and stir in the vanilla. Set the bowl over an ice bath and stir until the custard is no longer hot. Cooling it quickly protects the texture and shortens the time it spends warm.
5. Cover and refrigerate the custard for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight, until completely cold.
6. Churn in an ice cream maker according to the machine's instructions. During the final minute of churning, add the toasted pecans, cooled and chopped and churn only until evenly distributed. Transfer to a shallow freezer container. Stop churning when the ice cream is thick and holds soft ridges like soft serve.
7. Freeze for at least 4 hours before scooping. For easier scooping, let the container stand at room temperature for 5 minutes before serving.
8. Sift the finishing cocoa through a fine sieve in a light, even cocoa dusting over the frozen scoops just before serving. The finish should stay on the surface without melting into the dessert.