Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

5 from 2 votes

Rich, creamy, and smooth with flecks of real vanilla bean, this is the ultra-premium vanilla ice cream of your dreams! This recipe requires an ice cream maker.

Prep Time5

Cook Time10

Churning and chilling2

Total Time2 15

Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American

Servings: Yield 1 quart

Calories: 453kcal

Author: Sally Cameron

Equipment

Ice Cream Maker

Ingredients

2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 ½ cups whole milk
5-6 large egg yolks
⅔ cup sugar
2 tablespoons whole milk powder
½ teaspoon vanilla bean paste see note below
½ teaspoon almond extract optional
1 pinch sea salt

Instructions

Set up an ice bath

Fill a large bowl half full with ice and cold water. Place a medium bowl inside with a fine strainer inside to strain the cooked ice cream base. This is to chill the custard base quickly after cooking.

Separate eggs

Separate eggs and save egg yolks, save egg whites for another use. Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until smooth and a lighter yellow.
Tip - eggs are easier to separate cold.

Make the custard ice cream base

Combine milk, heavy cream, and milk powder in a medium saucepan and heat over medium low heat until steaming, but not boiling. Move the pan to a cool burner and with a measuring cup or large ladle, add portions of the hot cream to the bowl with the egg yolks little by little, whisking continuously. This is called tempering- so you do not end up with scrambled eggs. When about half of the dairy is added to the yolks, pour back into the pan and put the pan back on the hot burner.
Cook custard base over medium low heat stirring. The custard base is ready it reaches 170°F-175°F. Do not go over 180°F or you may have scrambled eggs. Use a digital kitchen thermometer.
Another test - it will coat the back of a spoon. Draw your finger through it and the line should hold, but the temperature reading is more accurate as custard is easy to over-cook.
Pour the custard through the sieve into the chilled bowl nestled inside the ice bath. This catches any stray bits of cooked egg. Stir the custard to help it release the heat and allow it to get cold, at or below 70°F, 15-20 minutes.
When the base gets cold, place it in the refrigerator to get as cold as possible, a hour or two is good. To this point you can even make it a day ahead. When base is very cold, process according to your ice cream machine directions.
To serve, enjoy straight out of the machine like soft serve or scrape the ice cream into a container and freeze for several hours or overnight.
If ice cream gets too hard, allow it to stand at room temperature for about 20 minutes checking to see it does not get too soft. Scoop and enjoy!

Notes

About vanilla paste: I use Tahitian Gold triple strength vanilla bean paste, so if you're vanilla bean paste is single strength, you will want to use more.

For fun variations, try adding finely chopped chocolate or mini chocolate chips towards the end of churning. Make strawberry swirl ice cream with pureed or chopped strawberries (or other berry), drizzle in caramel sauce for caramel ribbon ice cream, add chopped nuts such as walnuts, pecans, or pistachios.

Yolk notes: I've made vanilla bean ice cream with both 5 and 6 egg yolks. Both are great! The extra yolk adds even more richness but 5 is fine.

Nutrition