Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Professional Tips for Making Vanilla Ice Cream

• Use a real Madagascar vanilla bean. There is a subtlety to ice cream made by infusing real vanilla beans: it has a depth of flavor and complexity lacking in ice cream using extract or vanilla bean paste.
• Completely chill the base. Churning a cold ice cream base will help prevent ice crystals from forming during churning. This will make a thicker, creamier ice cream.
• Split the sugar between the cream and egg yolks. Adding some of the sugar to the cream mixture keeps the milk from scorching and adding the rest to the egg yolks protects them from scrambling during tempering.
• Take care not to over-churn. Over churned ice cream freezes too hard, and when taken way too far, the cream will actually separate and will leave a fatty coating in your mouth after each bite.

Ingredients Needed

• Heavy Cream: Heavy cream adds fat to the custard, which will make it taste creamy and rich.
• Milk: I use whole milk for all custards including ice cream, because the stand up to heating better and they have a richer taste.
• Granulated Sugar: I use granulated sugar for sweetness as well as protection against the milk scorching and the eggs scrambling during the tempering process.
• Kosher Salt: Kosher salt enhances the flavors without adding more sugar.
• Vanilla Bean: You can use just the spent vanilla bean pods from another recipe that just uses the seeds like banana pudding!
• Egg yolks: I use egg yolks in ice cream because all the thickening power and fat are in the yolks. You need both for a great ice cream! Save the whites for marshmallows with egg white or a pavlova cake!  

See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.

Variations & Substitutions

• Use vanilla extract or vanilla bean paste: You can use 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste or 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract instead of the vanilla bean.
• Half and half: Since there is a equal proportion of cream to milk, you can substitute half and half for the full measurement of milk and cream in the recipe.
• Get creative with mix-ins: This ice cream is a fabulous base for anything you can imagine! Try adding a swirl of salted caramel sauce, chocolate sauce, quick strawberry jam, or cherry preserves. Mix in baked streusel topping, apple pie filling or both! If you want chocolate, try the best chocolate ice cream instead.

How to Make Vanilla Ice Cream

Use these instructions to make the perfect vanilla bean ice cream every time! Further details and measurements can be found in the recipe card below.

Make the custard ice cream base:

Step 1: Pre-freeze your ice cream machine canister along with the container you are going to put the ice cream in. It should hold a quart. A standard loaf pan works great.

Step 2: In a large pot combine milk, cream, salt, half of the sugar, and vanilla beans and pods. Heat the cream mixture on medium-high heat just until it comes to a boil.

Step 3: Meanwhile, in a large bowl whisk the egg yolks with all the remaining sugar until lightened to a pale yellow. Once the cream mixture begins steaming, I add the sugar to the yolks and them whisk them together.

Step 4: Once the cream comes to a boil, slowly pour it into the eggs while whisking constantly. Return to the pot and cook until the base reaches 85°C or 180°F, stirring constantly with a spatula.

Step 5: Pour through a strainer into a bowl and set bowl in an ice bath (lots of ice with a little bit of water in a bigger bowl). The ice bath is optional but it will stop the cooking process and give you the best ice cream. Cover the surface with plastic wrap and poke a few holes.

Step 6: Pour into your ice cream machine per the manufacturer’s specifications. You always want to add the base with the machine already running to avoid it freezing on the sides.

Step 7: Continue churning until the volume increase by about 1/3 and the ice cream pulls away from the sizes and holds its shape when scooped out. In my Cuisinart this takes a solid 25 minutes.

Step 8: Pour into pre-frozen container such as a loaf pan, place plastic wrap directly on the surface to avoid ice crystals from forming or the ice cream absorbing any flavors from the freezer. Freeze at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.

What to serve with vanilla ice cream?

There is very little that doesn’t pair beautifully with a scoop of homemade ice cream, but here is a little inspiration for you!

• Make it the main dessert. Let ice cream be the dessert and top it simply with hot fudge sauce, salted caramel sauce or easy apple compote. Add a little crunch with this easy streusel topping or crumbled chocolate chip shortbread cookies.
• Serve a scoop with cake. Whether you are serving a funfetti sheet cake or a classic yellow cake, no birthday party is complete without ice cream! You can see all our cake recipes for more ideas.
• Let it melt down the sides of a slice of pie. There is nothing quite so striking as a scoop of ice cream melting down a slice of pie! Try it with blueberry pie, easy apple pie or cherry pie.
• Any fruit, spiced or chocolate dessert. The cream and vanilla combination augment other flavors like molasses and spice such as in this gingerbread cake, or the fruit in this raspberry rhubarb crumble. It enhances chocolate desserts like this one bowl chocolate cake.