Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

This creamy French vanilla bean ice cream is not only perfect for summer hot days but any season to top desserts such as crumbles, pies, etc. You can learn how to make this 5 ingredient homemade vanilla ice cream from scratch with my step by step tutorial!

Today I share my homemade vanilla bean ice cream with a custard base. Although this is a vanilla bean ice cream, feel free to use vanilla extract if you can’t find vanilla bean all the time as it is delicious this way too.

It is time to use your ice cream maker as you need one, unlike my no-churn ice cream where I use condensed milk. You can check my no churn praline ice cream post if you are interested to read why we don’t churn ice cream when we use condensed milk.

Why do we need to churn the mixture ?

We use heavy cream, milk, egg yolks and sugar. We don’t remove excess water from the liquids so the mixture will form large ice crytsals while freezing. By churning, we will eliminate these crystals and have a smooth ice cream.

Let’s continue with ingredients in detail;

Ingredients you’ll need

You can find the exact quantities at the bottom of my post, in the recipe card.

• Eggs: They make this ice cream so rich.
• Milk: In general, milk and heavy cream are used equally in French ice cream recipes but I use just a little bit more milk to avoid an extra creamy taste. This step doesn’t take anything from this ice cream’s creaminess.
• Heavy cream-It helps creaminess. I use just a little less heavy cream than milk to avoid a too creamy taste.
• Sugar-I use just enough sugar without making this recipe extra sweet.

Step by step instructions

Make sure to read the directions of your ice cream maker. You may need to keep the freezer bowl in the freezer minimum of 12 hours to 24 hours before using it.

First I pour the cream and milk into a saucepan.

Then I split the vanilla bean lengthwise, down the middle, and scrape the seeds.

Next, I add the vanilla seeds along with the vanilla bean into the saucepan and let the mixture bring to a boil. I remove the saucepan from the heat and cool it for 1 minute.

While the saucepan is on the stove, I stir the egg yolks with sugar until light in color. If you like, you can make this process after you remove the saucepan from the heat.

I temper the egg yolk mixture by pouring ⅔ of the milk mixture over the egg yolk mixture gradually while stirring with a whisk at the same time.

Then I pour the mixture into the saucepan, place it on the stove and stir with a wooden spatula until the mixture reaches 175-180F(79-82C). I let it stay at this temperature for almost 3-4 minutes. It shouldn’t exceed 180F(82C) to avoid curdling.

I sieve the mixture through a fine mesh strainer into a wide bowl, I use a wide bowl to hasten the cooling process. First I let it cool at room temperature and then keep in the fridge at least 3 hours.

Finally I churn the mixture according to the manufacturer’s directions. I place the ice cream into an airtight container, cover with plastic film to avoid ice crysalys forming on top before covering with the lid and keep in the freezer at least 4 hours before serving.

Enjoy!

Other refreshing treats you may enjoy!

• Frozen Banana Bites
• Frozen Strawberry White Chocolate Cups
• Frozen Chocolate Banana Bites
• Kiwi Orange Popsicles