Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
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Learn how to make homemade vanilla ice cream with this step by step baking tutorial! Homemade ice cream is WAY better than a tub of storebought!
Summer is hot. Ice cream is not. A step by step homemade vanilla icecream recipe is what I’ve got.
Ok that was pretty cheesy. Forgive me. But we’re talking homemade vanilla icecream!
With sprinkles. Because, um why not friend?!
What Are The Ingredients To Make Homemade Ice Cream?
The ingredients to make this homemade vanilla ice cream really are quite simple. You need:
- Granulated Sugar
- Corn Syrup
- Salt
- Egg Yolks
- Whole Milk
- Heavy Cream
- Vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste. It’s cheaper than vanilla beans and you still get the lovely flecks of the bean in the paste that you won’t get from just using vanilla extract!)
How To Make Vanilla Ice cream – Step By Step
You want to start by placing an 8×8 or 9×9 pan in your freezer for later. This is going to be used to store the custard when it comes to out of the ice cream machine.
Then start by heating your milk mixture of vanilla bean paste, heavy cream, whole milk, salt, 6 Tablespoons of your sugar, and the corn syrup. You want to heat this mixture over medium high heat for about 5 to 10 minutes until the mixture registers about 177°F.
While the mixture is heating, go ahead and whisk the egg yolks and the remaining sugar in a mixing bowl.
Once the mixture on the stove is ready, you want to temper your egg mixture. Which is a fancy way of bringing your eggs up to temperature so they don’t scramble! You do this by pouring a little bit of the heated milk mixture into the egg yolk/sugar bowl. Then you go ahead and pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan
Then return the mixture to the stove and over medium low heat, heat the mixture until it reaches 180ºF. This will take some patience, friend. About 7 to 14 minutes worth. Then transfer the mixture to a large bowl to cool down.
At this point, remove 1 cup of the custard into a smaller bowl. You need to cover both bowls with plastic wrap. The small bowl goes in the freezer. The larger bowl goes in the fridge. They need to chill for at least 4 hours. Or you can let them chill overnight!
Once the custard has cooled, stir the frozen custard into the refrigerated larger bowl. You want to stir this occasionally until the frozen custard has dissolved. Then strain the custard.
Then go ahead and transfer the custard to your ice-cream machine. You want to let the mixture churn until it resembles soft serve ice cream about 25 minutes. Then transfer to the chilled 8×8 pan, for an hour. After the hour is up, you can transfer to an airtight container.
Recipe Tips
- Make sure your ice-cream machine bowl is frozen before you begin. For me, this took 2 days so plan ahead!
- Use a digital thermometer when making this recipe. A few different steps require it and it will be very hard to tell when you have reached the desired temperature.
- When stirring the custard (after the egg yolk mixture has been added) be sure to keep a close eye on it and stir constantly so as not to burn it.
- Make sure to cover the custard bowls with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming on top.
Recipe FAQ’s
Freeze First: Freeze any mix-ins for 15 minutes before adding them to the ice-cream maker. This will keep from raising the ice-cream’s temperature.
Strain: Shake chopped ingredients like chocolate or nuts in a mesh strainer to remove small particles. This will help to keep the ice cream smooth’s consistency.
Don’t Add Too Much: Add no more than 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped (1/4 to 1/2 inch) mix-ins per quart of ice cream to provide textural contrast without dominating the ice cream. If using a potent ingredient (think crystallized ginger or peppermint candies) use only a 1/2 cup.
Wait Until The Last Minute: Add the mix-ins during the final minute of churning to ensure everything is evenly distribute without interrupting the freezing process.
Throw it in a cone. In a bowl. Add some sprinkles. Enjoy the last few days of summer!
Enjoy homemade ice cream within two weeks of making.
Sure you could go buy a tub of ice cream. Or you could make your own. Homemade vanilla ice cream that is WAY better than storebought.
If you love this recipe, let me know by leaving me a comment and star rating below!
What To Eat This Vanilla Ice-cream With
Of course you can enjoy a big old bowl of this but ice-cream to me is meant to be served with something HOT. Here are a few of my favorite recipes to pair with it:
- Old Fashioned Apple Pie
- Mixed Berry Crisp
- The Best Brownies I’ve Ever Had
- Pecan Pie Without Corn Syrup
- Chocolate Layer Cake
More Recipes to Try
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
- 1 3/4 cups heavy cream
- 1 1/4 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (4 1/3 ounces), divided
- 1/3 cup light corn syrup
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 6 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Place an 8×8 or 9×9 pan square metal baking pan in the freezer.
- Combine vanilla bean paste, heavy cream, whole milk, 6 Tablespoons sugar, corn syrup, and salt in medium saucepan. Heat over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until mixture is steaming steadily and registers 175oF degrees, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
- While cream mixture heats, whisk remaining 1/4 cup sugar and egg yolks in a bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds.
- Slowly whisk 1 cup of the heated cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Then pour the egg yolk mixture into the saucepan and cook over medium low heat, stirring constantly until mixture thickens and registers 180oF (about 7 to 14 minutes).
- Immediately pour custard into large bowl and let cool until no longer steaming, 10 to 20 minutes. Transfer 1 cup of the custard to a small bowl. Cover both bowls with plastic wrap. Place large bowl in the refrigerator and the small bowl in the freezer and let cool completely at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours. (The small bowl will freeze solid)
- Remove custards from refrigerator and freezer. Scrape frozen custard from small bowl into large bowl of custard. Stir occasionally until frozen custard through fine mesh strainer and transfer to ice-cream machine. Churn until the mixture resembles soft serve ice cream and registers 21oF (about 25 minutes).
- Transfer icecream to to frozen baking pan and press plastic wrap on the surface. Return to freezer until firm around the edges, about 1 hour.
- Transfer icecream to airtight container, press firmly to remove any air pockets and freeze firm at least 2 hours (ice cream can be frozen for up to 5 days)
Notes
- Make sure your ice-cream machine bowl is frozen before you begin. For me, this took 2 days so plan ahead!
- Use a digital thermometer when making this recipe. A few different steps require it and it will be very hard to tell when you have reached the desired temperature.
- When stirring the custard (after the egg yolk mixture has been added) be sure to keep a close eye on it and stir constantly so as not to burn it.
- Make sure to cover the custard bowls with plastic wrap to keep a skin from forming on top.
- Adapted from Cook’s Illustrated
- To Add mixins:
- Freeze First: Freeze any mix-ins for 15 minutes before adding them to the ice-cream maker. This will keep from raising the ice-cream’s temperature.
- Strain: Shake chopped ingredients like chocolate or nuts in a mesh strainer to remove small particles. This will help to keep the ice cream smooth’s consistency.
- Don’t Add Too Much: Add no more than 3/4 cup of coarsely chopped (1/4 to 1/2 inch) mix-ins per quart of ice cream to provide textural contrast without dominating the ice cream. If using a potent ingredient (think crystallized ginger or peppermint candies) use only a 1/2 cup.
- Wait Until The Last Minute: Add the mix-ins during the final minute of churning to ensure everything is evenly distribute without interrupting the freezing process.
I’m surprised how relatively easy this is! I had no idea I could make it by myself.
It does require some patience of course for it to set up but totally worth it!
Please what kind of sugar is used for the ice cream? Is it granulated or Caster sugar or Confectioner’s sugar. Please specify
Good old granulated 🙂 I’ll make sure to add that into the recipe!
There is something so delightful about a scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream I love using the old fashioned churn when I can.
Thanks Leslie! Yes knowing I made it myself makes me a feel a little less guilty eating it 🙂
This is so cool! … excuse the pun 🙂 I’m really feeling inspired to try this because as you say, it tastes much better than store bought. Thanks for the detailed instructions!
Helen you crack me up!! I love the pun 🙂
I’ve never thought to make homemade icecream it looks delicious