Tuesday, July 07, 2009

Very Vanilla Ice Cream

It's summer and we need to eat ice cream.


Vanilla isn't usually my go-to flavor; I like something different, something a little more adventurous. But when making ice cream at home, for a crowd, vanilla is a flavor everybody likes. And, frankly, when vanilla ice cream turns out this well, it should be a go-to flavor.

This recipe yields a wonderfully rich and creamy ice cream that packs a strong vanilla punch. It's not a wallflower vanilla; it can stand on its own. But if you felt like pairing it with other things, like some blueberries and blackberries heated up on the stove with a bit of berry jam, or in a tall, fizzy root beer float, fear not: this vanilla ice cream plays well with others.

Very Vanilla Ice Cream (adapted)

1 vanilla bean
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3 cups heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 1/2 cups sugar
3 large eggs

With a knife, halve vanilla bean lengthwise. Scrape seeds into a large heavy saucepan and stir in extract, cream, milk, and sugar. Bring mixture just to a boil, stirring occasionally, and remove pan from heat.

In a large bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add hot cream mixture to eggs in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170-degrees. (This may happen instantaneously; do not let boil.) Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper, at least 3 hours or until cold, and up to 1 day.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions, in 2 batches if necessary. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made 1 week ahead.

Yields 1.5 quarts.

3 comments:

Deborah Eley De Bono said...

The vanilla bean makes all the difference; love it. If I made this a week ahead, it would be gone long before that. Must borrow an ice-cream freezer for this one.

Snooky doodle said...

oh this looks dreamy. Pure vanilla makes all the difference.

Kitty said...

Oh, man alive does this look good. Am hating that we not only haven't made ice cream in... 4 years??... but that we also don't have any ice cream in the house!!