Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Frozen Until Scoopable

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Frozen Until Scoopable keeps the shopping list focused on whole milk, heavy cream, and granulated sugar divided. It serves 10 servings.

Count on 20 minutes of prep, 20 minutes of cooking, 3 hours of resting, about 3 hours from the first measurement to the plate.

Ingredients Method

What goes in the bowl

• 1 ½ cups whole milk
• 1 ½ cups heavy cream
• ⅔ cup granulated sugar divided
• 1 vanilla bean split & scraped
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 5 egg yolks

How the cooking goes

1. Make sure you have pre-frozen your ice cream maker’s mixing bowl and the container you plan to store it in.

Make ice cream custard base

1. Set a fine mesh strainer over a medium bowl and place that medium bowl over a larger bowl filled with ice.
2. In a heavy saucepot, combine milk, cream, ⅓ cup sugar and kosher salt.
3. Using a paring knife, split the vanilla bean in half and scrap out all the seeds. You can also use previously scraped pods. Add the seeds and pod directly into the cream mixture.
4. Warm the milk mixture over a moderate flame, stirring now and then, to dissolve the sugar. Continue to heat just until the mixture comes to a rolling boil.
5. In a mixing bowl, whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture lightens to a pale yellow. When the cream mixture begins to steam, slowly pour about half of it into the yolks while whisking constantly to temper them. This gradual mixing prevents the eggs from curdling.
6. Once the cream comes to a boil, slowly pour it into the eggs while whisking constantly. Pour back into the pot.
7. Return the tempered mixture to the pot and cook over a moderate flame, stirring constantly with a silicone spatula. Continue until the custard thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon and reaches 85°C (180°F) on an instant-read thermometer. Do not let it boil.
8. Tip through the sieve into the bowl nestled in ice. Allow to cool, stirring now and then, for about 10 minutes. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and cool at least 3 hours or overnight for the thickest, richest ice cream.

Churn the ice cream

1. Tip into your ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s specifications. You always want to add the base with the machine already running to avoid it freezing on the sides.
2. Continue churning until the volume increase by about 1/3 and the ice cream pulls away from the sizes and holds its shape when scooped out. In the Cuisinart this takes a solid 25 minutes.
3. Place in 1 quart container and cover in plastic wrap, making sure that the plastic is touching the ice cream to prevent ice crystals from forming or absorbing any flavors from the freezer. Refrigerate at least 3 hours but preferably overnight.

After it comes off the heat

Chill it for the time the method names before serving. Keep leftovers covered in the refrigerator.

If you want another plate from Ice cream, open Peach Ice Cream Churned Until Thick and Toasted Marshmallow Smores Ice Cream Frozen Until Scoopable.