Silky Vanilla Ice Cream Custard Recipes

BEST EVER VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan, combine cream, milk, sugar and salt. Split vanilla bean in half lengthwise. With a sharp knife, scrape seeds into pan; add bean. Heat cream mixture over medium heat until bubbles form around sides of pan, stirring to dissolve sugar. , In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks; return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook over low heat until mixture is just thick enough to coat a metal spoon and temperature reaches 180°, stirring constantly. Do not allow to boil. Immediately transfer to a bowl. , Place bowl in a pan of ice water. Stir gently and occasionally for 2 minutes; discard vanilla bean. Press waxed paper onto surface of mixture. Refrigerate several hours or overnight., Fill cylinder of ice cream maker two-thirds full; freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. (Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze.) Transfer ice cream to a freezer container; freeze until firm, 4-6 hours. Repeat with remaining mixture.

SILKY VANILLA ICE CREAM (CUSTARD)

Steps:

• In a medium sized saucepan, add milk, sugar, cream, corn syrup and salt.
• Cook over medium heat to 175ˆ (use a candy thermometer if you have one) or until steaming but not boiling.
• Whisk 3 eggs in a bowl and ladle in cream mixture one scoop at a time, whisking all the time, until about 2 cups of mixture is in the eggs. This is called tempering.
• Pour egg mixture back into saucepan and cook to 180ˆ, or for about 2 minutes until slightly thick. Again, don't allow mixture to boil.
• Remove from heat. Add vanilla extract.
• Pour into bowl through a fine sieve to remove any egg solids.
• Allow to cool. Cover and place in refrigerator for at least 4 hours before churning.
• Follow manufacturer's instructions for churning and freezing ice cream! ENJOY!

CUSTARD-STYLE VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine the heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds, and vanilla extract in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture almost reaches a gentle simmer, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, set a fine-mesh sieve in a medium bowl (preferably metal), then set the bowl in a large bowl of ice water; set aside.
• Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a separate medium bowl. Ladle one-quarter of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk well. Whisk in another one-quarter of the cream mixture, then pour the cream-egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream.
• Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight, until slightly thickened (a thermometer should register 180˚ F), 6 to 8 minutes. If at any point the mixture starts to simmer, remove from the heat, continue stirring, reduce the heat to medium low, then return to the heat (you do not want the custard to thicken too quickly or the eggs to scramble).
• Immediately strain the custard through the sieve into the bowl set over the ice water. Return the vanilla bean to the custard and let the custard cool, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Remove the vanilla bean, then transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions until the consistency of soft serve. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

ULTIMATE VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put the canister from the machine into the freezer a day before you want to make the ice cream. Next day, pour the cream and milk into a medium heavy-based pan, then tip in half the sugar. Slit the vanilla pod down its length with a small sharp knife and scoop out as many of the tiny black seeds as you can into the cream mixture. Cut the pod into three and drop it into the pan.
• Heat the cream and milk over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils - you'll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and set aside for 30 minutes so the vanilla can infuse.
• Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the rest of the sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters. Using a measuring jug, scoop out about 125ml/4fl oz of the cream mixture and beat into the egg yolks to slacken them. Reheat the cream until it just comes to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.
• Return the pan to a low heat and cook, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, for 8-10 minutes, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn't boil - as soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough, so take the pan off the heat so the mixture doesn't curdle.
• Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl, then sit it in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this takes about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, so it gets really cold.
• Get the ice cream machine running, scoop out the vanilla pod pieces, then slowly pour in the cold custard. Leave it to churn for 10-30 minutes (depending on your machine). When it stops, it is probably too soft to eat, so spoon into a plastic container, cover with cling film, then a lid, and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours. (It will keep in the freezer for 3 months but don't take it out, then refreeze.) Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
• To make it by hand: in step 1, heat the milk, vanilla, and half the sugar without the cream (the custard will be slightly thicker). At the start of step 6, whip the cream so it's light and floppy, not too stiff, and fold it into the cold custard. Freeze for 3-4 hours, stirring once an hour until almost frozen, then freeze as above.