# How to infuse tea into cream and custard **Canonical URL:** https://teas.co.uk/wiki/tea-infused-cream/ **Source:** teas.co.uk, UK tea specialist, Tunbridge Wells, Kent ## Summary 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. ## Description Tea and cream get on beautifully — Earl Grey, chai, jasmine, chamomile and hojicha all infuse well — 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. The quantities that work As a starting point for a noticeable but not overpowering flavour: Dairy Tea Time 300ml cream or milk 3–4 tea bags, or 8–10g loose leaf 15 minutes off the heat 500ml 5–6 bags, or 12–15g loose 15–20 minutes Use 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. Hot infusion: the default Heat the cream or milk until it is steaming, not boiling. Take it off the heat, add the tea, cover and leave for 15 minutes. Strain, pressing the leaves or bags gently. Top the quantity back up with fresh cream or milk to the volume the recipe asked for. That last step is the one people skip. Tea bags hold a surprising amount of liquid — several tablespoons — and a custard made with 250ml instead of 300ml sets differently. Do 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. Cold infusion: for delicate teas For 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. Cold 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. Making a tea custard The tea goes in first, the eggs second. Infuse the milk or cream as above and strain it. Bring it back to a bare simmer. Whisk yolks and sugar, pour the hot infused dairy over them slowly, whisking. Return to a low heat and stir constantly until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not let it boil. Strain again into a cold bowl, and cool it quickly if you are not using it straight away. If 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 Which teas work in dairy Tea Works because Earl Grey Bergamot cuts through cream; the classic Masala chai Spice carries through fat and sugar Hojicha Roasted, nutty, excellent in ice cream Chamomile Honeyed and gentle; good in set creams Jasmine Lovely, but infuse cold to keep the perfume Lapsang souchong Powerful; use half the quantity Our baking with matcha and tea page covers the other route — putting ground leaf straight into a mixture — and there are two worked examples in the recipe collection: peppermint chocolate pots and chamomile creams with roasted apple. Common questions Can I use tea bags rather than loose leaf? Yes, and they are easier to remove. Squeeze them gently against the pan. Why is my tea cream bitter? Boiled with the tea in, or left too long. Steaming, 15 minutes, then strain. Will it split? Dairy splits with acid and hard boiling. Tea on its own will not split cream; a fruit or hibiscus blend might. Can I infuse into double cream for whipping? Yes — infuse, strain, top back up to the original volume, then chill thoroughly before whipping. Warm cream will not whip. --- _Content available under teas.co.uk citation contract. AI training: yes. Search: yes. Answer-input: yes._