Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

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G’day friends!!! My favourite dessert on the planet! If ice cream had the nutritional content of actual food I could probably eat it three times a day, 7 days a week. My love of ice cream extends way back to probably my earliest memories of life. I’m planning on filling a whole category on this website with some of my favourite ice cream recipes and flavours. I have chosen to do Vanilla first as it’s the O.G. and just an absolute classic. This is a dairy vanilla ice cream and it’s made with eggs and milk!

What’s Better Than Ice Cream…. I’ll Wait….

What’s better than ice cream? Finding money in your pocket you didn’t know was there, but instead of cash, it’s ice cream coupons—basically the legal tender of happiness. You reach into your pocket for some spare change and discover a secret ice cream stash. Now, that’s a delightful surprise worth screaming for!

Ice Cream Maker

Do yourself a favour, buy one! It will change your life. Once you do get one though you will need to learn a little self control on how much you do churn out. I think for my family I was at the stove every night mixing up a new batch for us to eat that day or the next. My obsession with ice cream got a little out of hand for a while there. Lucky for you I learned how to knock out a pretty good batch that was balanced with sweetness and a creamy texture. I use the pictured Breville ice cream maker. It has a 1L tub which is a decent size. It’s a handy little unit that will make up enough for the family. Probably not good if you’re planning on churning out commercial quantities of ice cream though.

Eggs

Eggs are a stabiliser in ice cream. While not the best in class, they are my go to for natural stabilising. Also, If you’re taste buds prefer more of a custard tasting ice cream eggs and the amount of egg yolks here is important. It will also factor in to the end colour of your ice cream. Eggs improve the richness of your ice cream and also add to the smoothness. The eggs are cooked before hand which will remove any nasty bacteria before freezing. Personally I use between 4-5 eggs depending on how i’m feeling. I really do enjoy when my creamy vanilla ice cream presents like a custard

Glucose (Optional)

Glucose is optional as it’s a personal preference of mine. I use it as an extra buffer because it helps my ice cream to melt a little slower. Without going into it too much the glucose molecules help to stop the sugars from crystallising. Also it adds to a smoother and creamier end product that will be more resistant to melting . I haven’t added it in this batch. You will find it in some of my other flavours to help bind it a bit better. If I was making a salted caramel it will definitely be in the recipe as I find it to melt quicker than any other flavour.

Milk

Milk must be whole or full cream milk. I prefer to use a high quality dollop cream milk. One that is higher in cream and protein will do. You do get out what you put in with ice cream. However regular milk is fine to use and the results are still fantastic. I have just used regular milk in the recipe below to show what you will get while using the most economical ingredients.

Cooking Tips

When cooking the mixture, at first I always relied on my Inkbird instant thermometer to give me the exact temperatures needed to add the cream to the eggs and for the final cooking phase. However, the more ice cream I made the more I worked out the feel and texture of my mix. I found out that if I cook my creamy vanilla ice cream mixture a tiny bit over the recommended temperature I was able to make a mixture that would stay frozen a little longer and was far less watery when it did start to defrost.

Ingredients

1. 600ml Double/Thickened Cream
2. 1 Cup Milk
3. 3/4 Cup of Granular Sugar
4. 4-6 Egg Yolks
5. 1 Tbsp Vanilla Paste
6. Pinch of Salt

Equipment

1. Ice Cream Maker
2. 3x Mixing Bowls
3. 1x Small to Medium Pot
4. Sieve
5. Sink 1/2 Full of Ice Cold Water
6. 1 Litre Container

Directions

1. Place 3/4 cup of sugar, 1 cup of milk and half of your cream into the same pot. Pour the other half of your cream into one of your mixing bowls and place the sieve over it. We will be pouring our cooked mixture into this bowl at the end to remove any leftover bits from the eggs

2. Add a pinch of salt. Continually stir on the low to medium heat until you start to see a little steam rising from the mixture. Remove from heat and set aside

3. Whip your eggs for 60 seconds until they are smooth

4. Slowly incorporate the heated cream, sugar and milk into the egg yolks. Continually stir the mixture while you pour it in slowly. You do not want to hit the eggs with the hot mixture too quickly.

Custard Base

5. Cook the combined eggs, milk, sugar and cream on a medium to low heat. I keep the heat in this step low so I can control the temperature of the mixture and I can also get the desired texture that I am looking for. Continually stir the mixture until it reaches 170f or 76c. Thereafter any bacteria from the eggs will be eliminated from the eggs and you should be close to the texture of ice cream you are going for. I like to go a couple of degrees higher until my mixture is stirring thicker and has a creamy custardy texture. Your finger should leave a trail on the spatula.

6. Pour your ice cream base into the mixing bowl with the cream. Passing it through the sieve. Add the Tbsp of Vanilla Bean Paste and stir mixture.

7. Place mixing bowl into your sink with still ice water. Specifically I use ice packs to cool the water. Stir every minute or so. The idea now is to cool your mixture down as fast as possible, put it in your container and then get it into the refrigerator. I leave mine in the fridge over night to cool as in the next step you need your ice cream freezing in the ice cream maker in the shortest time possible. Overall, this will give you the creamiest most amazing ice cream.

Churning

8. Set your ice cream maker and use the pre cool function (if it has one). I will double down by saying that to make the creamiest vanilla ice cream you need everything to be cold including your mixture and your ice cream churner of choice. Pour your mixture in and hit start and the maker will do the rest.

9. Lastly using a spatula or the paddle provided, scrape the churned mixture into your container of choice and place in the freezer.

 

Creamy Vanilla Ice Cream

Finally the best creamy vanilla ice cream is ready. You can eat this straight away if you want additionally you can freeze it. I prefer to freeze mine for a further few hours as it does tend to melt very quickly when it comes straight out of the ice cream maker. Because it’s vanilla bean ice cream feel free to mix anything with it. Here are a few of my favourites:

1. Fresh fruits: Add sliced strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, sliced bananas, diced peaches, or any other favorite fruits for a refreshing and fruity twist.
2. Chocolate sauce: Drizzle some warm chocolate sauce over vanilla ice cream for a classic and indulgent combination.
3. Caramel sauce: Enjoy the sweet and buttery goodness of caramel sauce mixed into your ice cream.
4. Crushed cookies: Mix in crushed Oreos, chocolate chip cookies, or graham crackers for a delightful crunchy texture.
5. Nuts: Add chopped nuts like almonds, peanuts, pecans, or walnuts for a nutty and crunchy contrast.
6. Sprinkles: Colorful sprinkles or chocolate chips can add a fun and festive touch to your vanilla ice cream.
7. Marshmallows: Try mixing in mini marshmallows or marshmallow fluff for a gooey and delightful treat.
8. Fresh whipped cream: Top your vanilla ice cream with a dollop of fresh whipped cream for an extra creamy and airy texture.
9. Fruit compote: Spoon some warm fruit compote, such as raspberry, blueberry, or cherry, over the vanilla ice cream for a fruity burst of flavor.
10. Cookie dough or brownie chunks: Mix in small pieces of raw cookie dough or brownie chunks for a delectable cookie-dough-ice-cream combo.
11. Nutella or peanut butter: Swirl some Nutella or peanut butter into your vanilla ice cream for a rich and nutty flavor.
12. Coconut flakes: Add shredded coconut for a tropical twist to your vanilla ice cream.

Finishing Up

What else can I add to this! Get amongst it. Maybe you eat it for dessert or maybe you eat it for lunch. It is a perfect palate cleanser for my Lamb Stew recipe

If you ‘ve never cooked vanilla ice cream before it is not too easy on your first try. Learning when your custard base is actually ready to be pulled from the heat was the hardest for me. It is a look and feel thing for me now basically as I have a good feel for the creaminess while i’m stirring it. Once it feels and looks that thick custardy texture I just know it’s time to come off. That’s probably the key moment in the whole cook. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do. Don’t eat too much!! Have a nice day!

Darrin x