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    "id": 1070303,
    "title": "How to infuse tea into cream and custard",
    "slug": "tea-infused-cream",
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    "url": "https://teas.co.uk/wiki/tea-infused-cream/",
    "modified": "2026-09-18T00:45:36+01:00",
    "excerpt": "Earl Grey cream, chai custard, chamomile panna cotta: how much tea to use, hot versus cold infusion, and how to keep the quantities right after straining.",
    "content_text": "Tea and cream get on beautifully \u2014 Earl Grey, chai, jasmine, chamomile and hojicha all infuse well \u2014 and the technique is simple. The two things that go wrong are using too little tea, and losing liquid to the leaves without adjusting for it.\r\nThe quantities that work\r\nAs a starting point for a noticeable but not overpowering flavour:\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nDairy\r\nTea\r\nTime\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n300ml cream or milk\r\n3\u20134 tea bags, or 8\u201310g loose leaf\r\n15 minutes off the heat\r\n\r\n\r\n500ml\r\n5\u20136 bags, or 12\u201315g loose\r\n15\u201320 minutes\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nUse more than you would for a drink. The dairy fat mutes tea, and sugar mutes it again, so a \"normal\" strength infusion disappears in a finished dessert.\r\nHot infusion: the default\r\n\r\nHeat the cream or milk until it is steaming, not boiling.\r\nTake it off the heat, add the tea, cover and leave for 15 minutes.\r\nStrain, pressing the leaves or bags gently.\r\nTop the quantity back up with fresh cream or milk to the volume the recipe asked for.\r\n\r\nThat last step is the one people skip. Tea bags hold a surprising amount of liquid \u2014 several tablespoons \u2014 and a custard made with 250ml instead of 300ml sets differently.\r\nDo not boil the dairy with the tea in it, and do not leave black tea infusing for an hour: both extract tannin, which tastes drying and can make a custard grainy.\r\nCold infusion: for delicate teas\r\nFor jasmine, green tea or a very floral blend, steep the tea in cold cream in the fridge for 4 to 12 hours, then strain. It takes longer but keeps the perfume, which heat drives off.\r\nCold infusion is also the safer route if you are nervous about scalding cream. Keep it in the fridge the whole time and use it the same day.\r\nMaking a tea custard\r\nThe tea goes in first, the eggs second.\r\n\r\nInfuse the milk or cream as above and strain it.\r\nBring it back to a bare simmer.\r\nWhisk yolks and sugar, pour the hot infused dairy over them slowly, whisking.\r\nReturn to a low heat and stir constantly until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil.\r\nStrain again into a cold bowl, and cool it quickly if you are not using it straight away.\r\n\r\nIf you want certainty about egg safety, follow the FSA's advice on cooking food thoroughly, and use pasteurised eggs for anything that will not be fully cooked. FSA: chilling and food safety\r\nWhich teas work in dairy\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nTea\r\nWorks because\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nEarl Grey\r\nBergamot cuts through cream; the classic\r\n\r\n\r\nMasala chai\r\nSpice carries through fat and sugar\r\n\r\n\r\nHojicha\r\nRoasted, nutty, excellent in ice cream\r\n\r\n\r\nChamomile\r\nHoneyed and gentle; good in set creams\r\n\r\n\r\nJasmine\r\nLovely, but infuse cold to keep the perfume\r\n\r\n\r\nLapsang souchong\r\nPowerful; use half the quantity\r\n\r\n\r\n\r\nOur baking with matcha and tea page covers the other route \u2014 putting ground leaf straight into a mixture \u2014 and there are two worked examples in the recipe collection: peppermint chocolate pots and chamomile creams with roasted apple.\r\nCommon questions\r\nCan I use tea bags rather than loose leaf?\r\nYes, and they are easier to remove. Squeeze them gently against the pan.\r\nWhy is my tea cream bitter?\r\nBoiled with the tea in, or left too long. Steaming, 15 minutes, then strain.\r\nWill it split?\r\nDairy splits with acid and hard boiling. Tea on its own will not split cream; a fruit or hibiscus blend might.\r\nCan I infuse into double cream for whipping?\r\nYes \u2014 infuse, strain, top back up to the original volume, then chill thoroughly before whipping. Warm cream will not whip.",
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