Monday, January 25, 2010

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Revisited

One of the benefits of having a blog is seeing how much you've changed over time. For instance, the first time I ever made ice cream, I ranted on and on about how much I had to do just to produce a decent vat of ice cream custard. I chuckle at my complaints now.

My first ice cream attempt was vanilla bean from David Lebovitz. Since then, I have made many other flavors of ice cream (9 to be exact), and I now consider the process very easy to do.
Now, I'm going to back to my favorite flavor - vanilla bean. This time I'm using a different recipe that I feel is richer and tastier than the first one I made. I made it one other time before, and my colleagues devoured it gleefully. One of them did not even want to share the rest of it with the others, so she found a way to hoard it for herself haha.

In order to make this ice cream even better, I added a teaspoon of vanilla extract to the custard even after infusing a vanilla bean and its seeds. It is so creamy and has a yellow hue to it. Please make this cold, smooth, "vanilla-ful" concoction muy pronto.
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
adapted from Ice Cream! (thanks, mom!)

1 1/4 (300ml) whole milk
1 vanilla bean (if none, add 1 more tsp of vanilla extract to below amount when you add the cream)
4 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (100g) vanilla sugar (or plain sugar)
1 1/4 (300ml) heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)

Put the milk, vanilla seeds, and vanilla bean in a medium saucepan, and heat gently to near-boiling point. Remove the saucepan from the heat, and allow the vanilla to infuse for 15 minutes.

In a separate, heatproof bowl, beat the egg yolks and sugar, using a whisk or electric beater, until thick and pale. Gradually beat the milk into the egg mixture.

Place the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water, and continue stirring until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. (book's instructions)
OR
Pour the milk/egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir the mixture until it coats the back of a wooden spoon. (this is what I did). This took about 5-10 minutes.

Remove the bowl from the heat, and cover the surface directly with plastic wrap or waxed paper to prevent a skin from forming. Allow the custard to cool completely by refrigerating mixture for 4 hours to overnight.

Once cool, stir in the cream and vanilla extract (if using), and churn in an ice cream maker, according to the manufacturer's instructions. Serve immediately, or transfer to a freezer container; cover the surface directly with waxed paper or foil, and put in the freezer.

14 comments:

  1. There is nothing better than fresh vanilla bean ice cream. Mmmm!

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  2. i just love vanilla ice cream...super yummylicious!!

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  3. Vanilla bean ice cream is my favorite flavor - yours looks wonderful.

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  4. Hello, Memoria

    The photos of this vanilla bean delight looked good back in your amateur days and and even more so now! You just can't go wrong with one of the world's most popular flavors of ice cream! I love the extra "shots" of vanilla you gave the dish.
    I scream; you scream; we all scream for ice cream :o)

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  5. Yummm. That looks fabulous and what a lovely photo! I agree with you, I think the addition of a bit of vanilla extract really helps in vanilla bean ice cream.

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  6. I still remember it was your Double Chocolate Toffee Ice Cream which first led me to your blog last year. You make the BEST ice-creams, EVER.

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  7. I love that photo.... it feels like ice cream! The recipe looks wonderful too!

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  8. We almost always buy vanilla bean ice cream. I'd love to try your version. It looks muy delicioso!

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  9. Thanks, everyone for the kind comments!

    Ju - ahhh the double chocolate toffee ice cream...I miss that one. I have to revisit that one personally haha.

    lostpast - Thanks! I agree; it does feel and look like ice cream and winter into one. The recipe is wonderful.

    Barbara - ¡ESCRIBISTE EN ESPAÑOL! Muy bien :) Sí, el helado es muy delicioso. I hope you try it really soon!

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  10. Love vanilla ice cream and the only flavor I love more is Marble Slab's sweet cream. Unfortunately there isn't one close, so, vanilla ice cream take me away.

    Thanks for sharing this recipe!
    ~ingrid

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  11. amazing photos and ice cream, I`m speechless:))

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  12. Your ice cream is picture perfect. Your photos are beautiful!

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  13. Your post is quite interesting and great research skills required for such type of post.
    essays

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