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5 from 2 votes

Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Make your own homemade vanilla ice cream that is better than any store bought version!
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Servings: 1 quart
Author: Heather Perine

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 8x8 or 9x9 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.