Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Base Recipes

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Split vanilla beans lengthwise with a sharp paring knife. Gently scrape out all the seeds.
• Place vanilla-bean scrapings and pods in a medium saucepan with milk. Scald the mixture, cover, and remove from heat. Let steep for 30 minutes.
• Combine egg yolks and sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat at medium-high speed until very thick and pale yellow, 3 to 5 minutes. Alternatively, whisk together in a medium bowl.
• Return milk to stove, and bring just to a simmer. Using a measuring cup or ladle, slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot-milk mixture into the egg-yolk mixture, whisking constantly on low speed until blended. Keep adding milk mixture, about 1/2 cup at a time, until it has all been added. Whisk until combined.
• Pour mixture back into saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. The custard should retain a line drawn across the back of the spoon with your finger.
• Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Remove pan from heat, and immediately stir in chilled cream to stop the custard from cooking. Pour through a mesh sieve into a medium bowl set in the ice bath, and stir occasionally until cooled. (Discard vanilla-bean pod and strained seeds.) Stir vanilla extract into cooled custard. Cover bowl, and transfer to refrigerator until chilled, at least 30 minutes or overnight.
• Pour custard into an ice-cream maker, following the manufacturer's instructions. Churn until the ice cream is just set, but not hard.
• Transfer soft ice cream to an airtight plastic container; freeze at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.
• If you don't have an ice-cream maker, you can still make ice-cream. After you have made up your mixture, transfer it to a lidded plastic box (a shallow one enables the freezing to happen more quickly and also makes whisking easier as the beater can go down straight into the box) and put it in the coldest part of the freezer for two hours, or until the contents become firm at the edges. At this stage, empty out the box into a mixing bowl and whisk the ice cream with an electric hand whisk to break down the ice crystals. Return the box to the freezer and freeze for another two hours, then repeat the whisking process. Refreeze the ice-cream ( if making a sorbet that contains a generous quantity of alcohol, freeze overnight ) until 30-45 minutes before you want to serve it, at which time you should transfer it into the fridge to soften. Incidentally, it's a good idea to arm yourself with a digital kitchen timer to remind you to remove the ice cream and whip it at various stages.

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine the heavy cream, milk, and vanilla pod and seeds in a large saucepan. Bring to a gentle simmer over medium-high heat, then remove from the heat.
• Whisk the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Ladle half of the cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk to combine; return to the saucepan with the remaining cream mixture. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure-8 motion, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon, about 10 minutes.
• Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a blender; discard the vanilla pod. Puree until frothy, about 30 seconds; pour back into the bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 3 hours or overnight.
• Transfer the chilled custard to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a resealable container and freeze until firm, about 2 hours.

VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM BASE

Steps:

• To make the vanilla ice cream: Combine the cream, milk, salt, and 2 cups of the sugar in a large pot. Split the vanilla beans down the middle lengthwise and scrape out the seeds with a paring knife; add them to the pot and toss in the pods for added flavor. Place the cream mixture over medium heat, and bring up to a simmer; stirring with a wooden spoon to dissolve the sugar. Ideally, the temperature should reach 175 degrees F (just below scalding) for a smooth-textured ice cream; this should take about 15 minutes. Shut off the heat, cover the pot, and allow the cream mixture to steep for 15 minutes to further infuse the vanilla flavor.
• In the meantime, combine the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl and blend them lightly with a wire whisk. Gradually add the remaining 1 cup of sugar and continue to whisk until the sugar is completely dissolved and the eggs are thick and pale yellow; about 6 minutes.
• Using a large ladle or measuring cup, temper the eggs by gradually whisking in about 4 cups of the hot cream mixture. Return this back to the rest of the cream in the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir constantly until the custard thickens and leaves a path on the back of a spoon when you run your finger across it, about 10 to 12 minutes (do not let boil.)
• Pour the vanilla custard through a fine strainer into another pot* and chill completely in a sink full of ice, stirring here and there; this should take about 1 hour. Ideally, let the ice cream base "age" overnight in the refrigerator before churning in an ice cream maker to improve the flavor and texture of the final product ¿ but it is still good if you decide to process it right away. Divide the ice cream into quarts** and churn each in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions. When done, the ice cream will be the consistency of "soft serve." ***To harden the ice cream fully, freeze in plastic covered containers.
• Flavor Variations:
• *To make the Chocolate-Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream: Heat 3/4 up of milk in a pot over medium-low heat. Add 12 ounces of the chopped chocolate and stir until completely melted. Pour 1 quart of the strained hot vanilla ice cream base into the melted chocolate and stir until very well incorporated. Chill and process as directed in the master recipe. Fold in the remaining 4 ounces of chopped chocolate after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Churn another 1 to 2 minutes just until combined.
• **To make the Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream: Mix the strawberry preserves into the vanilla custard just before you start churning in the ice cream maker. Add the pieces of strawberry cheesecake and fresh strawberries after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 5 minutes or until combined but still chunky.
• ***To make the Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Add the pieces of cookie dough after churning while the ice cream is in the "soft-serve" stage. Continue to churn for an additional 1 to 2 minutes until combined but still chunky.

ICE CREAM BASE

Steps:

• Pour the heavy cream and half-and-half cream into a heavy saucepan, place over medium-low heat, and heat until barely simmering, stirring frequently. Turn the heat down to low.
• Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until thoroughly combined.
• Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. Repeat three times more, whisking thoroughly before adding each additional 1/2 cup of hot cream to the egg yolk mixture. Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream, and whisk constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and will coat the back of a spoon, 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let mixture boil.
• Pour the ice cream base into a bowl and allow to cool for about 20 minutes; place in refrigerator and chill overnight. The next day, pour into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Remove the ice cream, pack into a covered container, and freeze for 2 hours or overnight before serving.

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the half and half. Gradually whisk in the sugar until blended.
• Whisk in the vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.
• Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Eat at once or transfer to a covered container and freeze up to 8 hours.

VANILLA-CUSTARD ICE CREAM BASE

Steps:

• Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla seeds and pod. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.
• Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in half of milk mixture. Pour egg-milk mixture back into pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Pour custard through a fine sieve into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water; discard vanilla pod. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; custard base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.