When it comes to ice cream, Vanilla beats out the rest for purity of flavour and functionality. It can be paired with almost anything, and will complement, rather than overpower, the other flavours. When ice cream is done right, it has little overrun with a dense, smooth, and creamy texture. Everyone who likes to make ice cream needs to have a reliable (an outstanding) Vanilla Ice Cream recipe.
Whenever anyone asks which flavour of ice cream I enjoy the best, the answer is always Vanilla. Yes, oftentimes others will think that this is a bland and non-adventurous flavour; but, when made with heavy cream and vanilla beans, there is nothing 'vanilla' about it!
Vanilla Ice Cream (adapted from the recipe by David Lebovitz)
1 cup Whole Milk
A pinch of Salt
3/4 cups Sugar
1 Vanilla Bean
5 large Egg Yolks
2 cups Heavy Cream1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1. Heat the milk, salt, and sugar in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds into the milk with the tip of a paring knife. Add the bean pod to the milk.
2. Whisk together the egg yolks in a bowl and temper them by gradually adding some of the warmed milk, stirring constantly as you pour. Pour the warmed yolks back into the saucepan.
3. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Rinse the vanilla bean and put it back into the custard and cream to continue steeping. Chill thoroughly, then remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
