Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I have been meaning to post this recipe for a while now. Vanilla bean ice cream. Homemade. Rich and creamy and dotted with little bean flecks. The absolute perfect thing to go with a homemade galette or a homemade pie.


Did I mention this is rich and creamy and utter heaven? A double dose of vanilla, from the pod and the extract, allows for the ultimate vanilla flavor.

Oooooo and the consistency is spot on with this recipe. It does not get all hard and icy in the freezer. It stays nice and soft, but not too soft. Mmm gimme gimme gimme!!!!!!!!


Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

from David Lebovitz's Ready for Dessert

makes about 1 quart

1 cup whole milk
pinch of salt
3/4 cup sugar
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, warm the milk, salt, and sugar, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean and add them to the saucepan, then drop in the pod. Cover, remove from heat, and let steep for 30 minutes (sometimes I just get lazy/impatient and don't steep for a long time...eh, my ice cream still comes out amazing).

Pour the cream into a medium bowl and set a mesh strainer across the top.

Reheat the milk mixture until it's warm. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks, then gradually add some of the warm milk mixture, whisking constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan (this is called "tempering"). Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom of the pan with a heatproof spatula.

Pour the custard through the mesh strainer into the heavy cream. You can rinse your vanilla pod and save it to use again in another recipe.

Stir in the vanilla extract. Set the bowl containing the custard over a larger bowl of ice water. Stir the custard until cool, then cover and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Freeze the chilled custard in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions.