French Vanilla Ice Cream Food

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl until light and fluffy, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, then continue whisking until completely blended, about 1 minute more. Pour in the cream, milk, and vanilla and whisk to blend.
• Transfer the mixture to an ice cream maker and freeze following the manufacturer's instructions.
• Makes 1 Quart **Variation: add 1 cup coarsely chopped Reese's Peanut butter cups, after ice cream stiffens (about 2 minutes before it is done) let it continue processing.

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put cream and milk into a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Scrape vanilla seeds from beans with the tip of a small knife into pan; add beans. Heat the mixture until hot (do not let simmer), about 2 minutes. Remove mixture from heat; cover, and let stand 30 minutes.
• Prepare an ice-water bath; set aside. Put yolks, sugar, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until yolk mixture has tripled in volume and can hold a ribbon on surface for 2 seconds, about 3 minutes.
• Reduce speed to medium. Ladle 1 cup cream mixture in a slow stream into yolk mixture to temper it. Add another cup cream mixture; beat to combine. Transfer mixture to saucepan; cook over medium-high heat, stirring constantly, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon and an instant-read thermometer registers 180 degrees; 5 to 7 minutes.
• Pour custard through a medium-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice-water bath. Let cool completely, stirring often.
• Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or freeze in an airtight plastic container until ready to serve. If frozen for more than 4 hours, let ice cream stand at room temperature 15 to 20 minutes before serving.

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the half & half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. Remove from heat, set aside.
• Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl. Whip using whip attachment on speed 2 about 30 seconds or until well blended and slightly thickened. (Speed 2 on my mixer is about a low/medium speed).
• Continuing on speed 2 very gradually add the warm half & half and mix until blended.
• Return mixture to the saucepan over medium heat stirring constantly until small bubbles form around the edge of pan and the mixture is steamy. DO NOT BOIL.
• Transfer the half-and-half/egg mixture to a large glass bowl and stir in whipping cream, vanilla and salt.
• Cover with plastic wrap and chill thoroughly, at least 8 hours.
• Pour into your ice cream maker and process as directed or until desired consistency. In my KA freezer bowl this takes about 17 minutes for a soft set.
• Immediately transfer to serving dishes or freeze in an airtight freezer container.

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together the yolks and half of the sugar.
• In a non-reactive saucepan combine the cream, 1 cup of the milk, the remaining sugar, and the salt.
• Split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise, to expose the tar-like seeds inside the pod. Scrape the seeds loose with a knife; add the bean and the seeds to the cream mixture.
• Heat the cream over medium-high heat until just at a boil. Remove from the heat. Gradually pour the hot liquid into the yolks, while whisking constantly. Return the cream-egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring the mixture constantly, with a wooden spoon in a figure-8 motion, until thickened, about 10 minutes. When the ice cream mixture is properly cooked it should coat the back of a spoon, be satiny thick, and be free of any bubbles on the surface. (If you taste the ice cream base it should have a slight egg-y taste.) When thickened, pour in the reserved milk to prevent the mixture from overcooking. Strain into a medium bowl. Add the cognac if desired.
• Fill another bowl with ice. Set the bowl of ice cream base in the ice and stir until thoroughly chilled. Freeze the base in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Take care not to over churn the ice cream or it will get a grainy texture.) Transfer the ice cream to the freezer to set up for at least 1 hour. Serve.

FRENCH VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• 1. Set up an ice bath by filling the sink or a large bowl with ice water. In a medium saucepan over moderately high heat, combine the cream, milk, 1 cup sugar, and the vanilla bean seeds and pod. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
• 2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the remaining 1 cup sugar. Gradually add the hot-cream mixture to the eggs, whisking constantly. Pour back into the saucepan and remove and discard the vanilla bean pod. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the custard thickens just enough to coat the back of the spoon (it will be about 180°F).
• 3. Pour the custard through a fine-mesh sieve set over a large bowl then set the bowl in the ice bath and let cool, stirring occasionally. Refrigerate the cooled custard for at least 4 hours or overnight. Freeze in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. Pack the ice cream into containers, cover, and freeze for 3 to 4 hours before serving.