Serious Vanilla Ice Cream Food

VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Place the half-and-half and the heavy cream into a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Bring the mixture just to a simmer, stirring occasionally, and remove from the heat.
• In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color. Gradually add the sugar and whisk to combine. Temper the cream mixture into the eggs and sugar by gradually adding small amounts, until about a third of the cream mixture has been added. Pour in the remainder and return the entire mixture to the saucepan and place over low heat. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon and reaches 170 to 175 degrees F. Pour the mixture into a container and allow to sit at room temperature for 30 minutes. Stir in the vanilla extract. Place the mixture into the refrigerator and once it is cool enough not to form condensation on the lid, cover and store for 4 to 8 hours or until the temperature reaches 40 degrees F or below.
• Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's directions. This should take approximately 25 to 35 minutes. Serve as is for soft serve or freeze for another 3 to 4 hours to allow the ice cream to harden.

"SERIOUS" VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. (see note below) Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.
• Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to units instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 1 hour before serving.

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.

REAL VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Put the milk and cream in a saucepan. 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 milk mixture. Add the pod to the pan, too. Heat the whole lot 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 mins so that the vanilla can infuse.
• Mix the egg yolks and sugar together in a bowl. Gradually pour the milk over the egg mixture, whisking continuously until combined. Pour everything back into the cleaned pan, return to a low heat and cook for 8-10 mins, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Make sure it doesn't boil or you will end up with scrambled eggs.
• Pour the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl, then sit it in a bigger bowl, one-third full of ice and water, to cool it down - keep stirring every now and then to stop a skin forming. Chill to make sure it is completely cold, putting cling film directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming.
• Pour the custard into an ice-cream machine. Churn following manufacturers' instructions until frozen, then spoon into a metal or plastic freezer-proof container. Cover and freeze until solid. If you don't have an ice-cream machine, pour the custard into the container and freeze. Every 2-3 hrs, take the mixture out of the freezer and give it a stir. Once it is softly set, beat it well with electric beaters, then freeze solid. It will keep in the freezer for 3 months. Remove from the freezer 15 mins before serving to allow it to get soft enough to scoop.

VANILLA ICE CREAM - CREAMY & DELICIOUS

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar. Stir until thick (once its mixed well it will be thick).
• In a saucepan, scald the milk (bring slowly to a boil).
• Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan (I use a larger saucepan for this part) and heat gently, stirring until the custard thickens. Be careful not to bring it to a boil or it will curdle. When you can see a film form over the back of the spoon, remove the saucepan from the heat. Let cool.
• Once cool, stir the heavy cream and vanilla extract into the custard mixture.
• Take out the ice cream maker's frozen bowl and set it into the ice cream maker. Put in the arm. Put the top on. Turn the ice cream maker on. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. You will have yummy ice cream in 25 minutes.

CLASSIC VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• Place a container in the freezer. Split the vanilla pod lengthways, scrape the seeds out with the point of the knife and tip into a pan with the milk, cream and pod. Bring to the boil, then remove heat and leave to infuse for at least 20 mins. For the best flavour, this can be done a few hours beforehand and left to go cold.
• In a large bowl, whisk the sugar and egg yolks together for a few mins until they turn pale and fluffy. Put the vanilla cream back on the heat until it's just about to boil, then carefully sieve the liquid onto the yolks, beating with the whisk until completely mixed.
• At this point, get a large bowl of iced water and sit a smaller bowl in it. Pour the custard back into the pan and cook on the lowest heat, stirring slowly and continuously, making sure the spoon touches the bottom of the pan, for about 10 mins until thickened. Strain the custard into the bowl sitting in the iced water and leave to cool, then churn until scoopable. Transfer to the container and freeze.

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.

EASY VANILLA ICE CREAM

Steps:

• To churn in a machine: In a bowl, mix the ingredients well together. Churn in the ice-cream machine until scoopable. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze until needed.
• To churn by hand: Mix the ingredients in a bowl and freeze in the bowl for about 90 mins until it starts to freeze around the edges. Stir well then repeat the process twice more until the mix is smooth and frozen. Freeze in a suitable container until needed.