French Vanilla Ice Cream

OMG, this is happiness in a cup! Happy happy happines! I think it might have to do with the 4 cups of cream. Something with that much fat can’t possibly taste bad.

Actually, I take that back. I’m sure there’s a way. But if given a choice, I wouldn’t eat those fats.

This was my first attempt at making ice cream and I was a little nervous. I had a shiny, frozen-solid ice cream maker sitting in my freezer and a nice custard in my refrigerator. I also had read the reviews on the KitchenAid ice cream maker many times, to make sure I knew general Do’s and Do Not’s from people who had used the ice cream maker before.

I set up the bowl into my KitchenAid, started a-churnin’ and then poured in the batter. Many recipes had noted to use a spouted container. I did not and instead made a nice mess all over my kitchen counter. Fun!

After that, I sat and stared at the ice cream maker churning. And stared some more. I’ve never used one before so I was all sorts of curious as to how this worked. I was also a little apprehensive. What if my ice cream maker wasn’t completely frozen? What if the custard didn’t become yummy and soft serve-y?

I am such a worry-wart.

It came out fantastic. So creamy and full of flavor and somewhat soft, just the way I like my ice cream! It tasted almost as good as Goodberry’s and that’s saying a LOT!

So here is the recipe for French Vanilla ice cream. Feel free to make it or come on over and enjoy it with me. I took the original and just scaled it back by 25%. Ironically, many reviews of the ice cream maker noted that the recipes that come with the instruction manual overflow the container. Guh!

I’m trying out a chocolate recipe next that I hope will be pretty tasty!

French Vanilla Ice Cream

1-⅞ cups half-and-half
6 egg yolks
¾ cup sugar
1-⅞ cups whipping cream
3 tsp. vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

NOTE: This recipe is perfect for the 2-quart capacity of a KitchenAid ice cream maker.

1- In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat half-and-half until very hot, but not boiling, stirring frequently. Remove from heat and set aside.

2- In a mixing bowl, whisk together egg yolks and sugar.

3- Very gradually, whipping all the while, add half-and-half and mix until blended.

4- Return half-and-half mixture to saucepan and cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around edge and mixture is steamy, stirring constantly. Do not boil.

5- Transfer half-and-half mixture into large bowl. Stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt.

6- Cover and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.

7- Assemble ice cream maker according to directions. Start up ice cream maker and add mixture slowly. Churn until thick, soft-serve consistency is reached.

8- Remove from ice cream maker. Either freeze for further “ripening” or serve immediately.

Servings: A lot!

~ by Melanie on January 19, 2008.