Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I thought it was high time I made a more traditional ice cream.   Matt's favorite ice cream outside of cookie dough is vanilla bean, so I thought this was a good place to start.  Besides, I still had some blueberry pie to finish and it was just begging to be a la mode.

Vanilla Bean (Custard) Ice Cream *****

yield: 1 1/2 quarts

You'll need:

1 cup milk

3/4 cup sugar

2 cups heavy cream (divided)

pinch of salt

1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise

6 large egg yolks

3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

Here's How:

Warm milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream and salt in a saucepan over medium.  Scrap the seeds from the vanilla bean into the mixture and then add the beans too.  You just want to heat the mixture up- not boil it or anything.  After it has heated, remove from heat, cover and let sit and steep for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, heat again until warmish hot.

Wisk the egg yolks (this is done easily in a stand mixer, if you have one.)  With the motor still running, slowly splash little splashes of milk/sugar mixture into the eggs-(This tempers them so they don't scramble!).  Do this, little by little until the whole thing is in the eggs.  Once tempered, pour back into the saucepan and put over medium heat again.  Cook over medium heat, constantly stirring, until mixture thickens and coats spatula.

Put the remaining 1 cup of cream in a bowl with a strainer on top- pour the custard into the cream, straining any bits of egg that might have formed.  Stir the strained custard into the cream (still keeping the bean in it) and add the vanilla extract.  Put in a waterbath to cool it and put it in the fridge to chill thoroughly. (A few hours- or even overnight. I put plastic wrap on the top to keep a film from forming on top.)

Church using your ice cream makers' directions.  Eat soft serve or toss quickly back into freezer for several hours for hard ice cream.



*Remember!*  Hard ice cream should be brought out of the freezer for five minutes or so before serving- homemade ice cream is much harder than storebought!  For an example of this- photo one is straight from the freezer, photo two was kept out for a few minutes before serving.