I just got an ice cream maker and have been trying out recipes to see which works best. I like a dense creamy ice cream and my husband likes icy ice cream. My daughter doesn’t seem to care! I made my first quart the other night and it got devoured by all of our friends and their kids but it seemed like it lacked vanilla flavor for my taste and it wasn’t very creamy. It was good but not amazing considering I had used 3 cups of raw cream. At $10 a gallon for our raw milk – cream is a precious commodity in this house and I like to use it wisely.
Here is a recipe with some great vanilla flavor. It turned out really creamy too after chilling all night. I got it from this e-book which has a ton of great recipes and I highly recommend if you have an ice cream maker and need ideas.
Vanilla bean ice cream:
Ingredients:
1 cup whole milk
2 cups cream (or 3 cups cream if using the fast method)
½ – ¾ cup vanilla-flavored raw sugar (I used 1/2 cup maple sugar)
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
4-6 egg yolks (I used 5)
pinch of sea salt
Directions:
Mix together milk, raw sugar and sea salt in a saucepan and heat on low until comfortably hot to touch. With a knife, scrap the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk and add in the bean. Cover, turn off heat and let it infuse for an hour. Meanwhile, pour the cream into a large bowl or container and set aside in the fridge.
In a medium bowl, whip together the egg yolks. Reheat the vanilla infused milk and pour a couple tablespoons of hot milk into the yolks and stir well. Pour the yolk mixture into the saucepan with the rest of the milk, whisking continuously while pouring. Cook the mixture over low heat, stirring continuously and scraping the bottom of the pan with a spatula, until the custard thickens and coats the spatula. Pour the custard into the cream, stir in vanilla extract and let it cool. Cover and chill the custard thoroughly in the
refrigerator for a few hours or (preferably) overnight.
Once chilled, remove the vanilla bean. Pour mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. When the ice cream is done churning, quickly scoop ice cream into a container or bowl. Serve right away or let it firm up in the freezer for a couple hours before serving.
Fast Technique: Use 3 cups cream or coconut milk and mix everything together. Pour into your ice cream maker. You won’t get that strong, rich vanilla flavor, but it will still taste delicious! (not sure this is worth it with this recipe considering you are using a whole vanilla bean – I would say if you are doing the fast version then just do 2 tsp of vanilla extract and skip the whole vanilla bean thing)
I made this recipe and it was soooo good! Definitely worth the effort. I know you have a newer recipe on your blog now, Real Milk Ice Cream – Vanilla, that does not use vanilla beans. I have also compared other recipes and I was just curious does it make much difference if you use 1 cup whole milk/2 cups cream or 1 cup whole milk/3 cups cream with amounts of all other ingredients basically the same? I have seen it both ways in your recipes and others.
It is too funny that you noticed that. I started with this version and made it the new way and liked the other one so much I never tried it with real vanilla bean. Truthfully I think the alcohol in th vanilla extract helps to make the real milk vanilla so smooth and creamy along with the gelatin. I like using three cups of cream. I think to make this one better you should follow the real milk recipe but steep th vanilla beans in the milk and skip the extract. Enjoy!
What kind of cream do you use?