Making chai ice cream from scratch is not for the faint of heart.

Really good homemade chai requires a rainbow of flavorful and fragrant whole spices–and if you don’t have any of them, the grocery bill is eye-popping. For the tea, I selected Darjeeling 2nd Flush 2006, a tea with quintessential Indian tea flavor.

The spices smelled divine!

Making the ice cream also required a good chunk of free time, ample counter space, more bowls than I have, and four hands. The recipe I used called for heating the milk and spices for an hour, then steeping the tea, straining the mixture, returning it to the saucepan, whisking the eggs, cooking the eggs, straining again, and stirring it in an ice bath until it cools. Well worth it, I tell you. The ice bath step is crucial–you don’t want to put a warm mixture in the fridge to cool because condensation will form inside the bowl. And water in mixture = ICY DEATH for ice cream!

Mmm, smooth and rich!

Perfect on grilled cardamom-scented pineapples!

I bet this would make a killer milkshake too.

The new Whole Foods opened a mile down the road. Apart from the impressive wine tasting bar, it also has… a gelato serving case!

I visited twice, undercover and all. Took a few pictures (above). Tasted a few flavors (they were good and well made). Asked some innocent questions about their production (they make the gelati in the mornings on site, picking 20 from a book of 55 flavors).

Personally, I am thrilled that they’re doing this. The more people learn about gelato, the better it is for a new business. They’re doing all the work! The market will be primed for more gelato consumption.

Made with ground toasted pine nuts.

They said it couldn’t be done.
They said it shouldn’t be done.

But I did it anyway.

And boy, was it good.

At this morning’s Partners Group, Paul Saginaw casually mentioned that Billie is going to spin off the Creamery and start Zingerman’s gelato as a separate business. All this I got second-hand from Pete. He told me that a few people in the meeting were surprised, like they had no idea. Chef Alex was reported to have said, “of course! I always knew she had it in her.” Or something to that effect.

Eep! I have to get in gear!