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Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

A cooked custard, chilled, then churned. The ice cream maker is the last twenty minutes — not the whole recipe.

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Scoops of vanilla bean ice cream in a ceramic bowl on marble.

Homemade vanilla ice cream is mostly patience. You cook a custard, you chill it until it's really cold, and then the machine does the fun part. The vanilla bean is worth it if you have one. Extract is fine if you don't.

The ice cream maker only works if the base is cold. A warm custard will never freeze properly in the churn, no matter how long you run it. Overnight in the fridge is the move.

You'll know it's ready when it looks like soft-serve and the paddle leaves trails. Pack it, freeze it a couple hours, and then you can scoop.

Why you'll love this

  • Real custard, real vanilla
  • About 1 quart — enough for the week
  • The ice cream maker churns; you cook
  • Works with a compressor or a freezer-bowl machine

Ice cream maker (compressor or frozen bowl)

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

A cooked custard, chilled, then churned. The ice cream maker is the last twenty minutes — not the whole recipe.

Prep
30 minutes
Total
6 hours (includes chilling)
Yield
About 1 quart

Ingredients

  • 2 cups (480g) heavy cream
  • 1 cup (240g) whole milk
  • ¾ cup (150g) granulated sugar
  • 5 large egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped (or 2 tsp vanilla extract, added off the heat)
  • Pinch of fine salt

Instructions

  1. 1

    Warm the cream, milk, half the sugar, salt, and the vanilla bean pod and seeds in a saucepan over medium heat until steaming. Don't let it boil.

  2. 2

    Whisk the yolks with the remaining sugar until the mixture lightens a shade. Stream in a ladle of the hot dairy, whisking, then pour it all back into the pan.

  3. 3

    Cook over medium-low, stirring with a spatula, until the custard coats the spatula and reads 175–180°F (80–82°C). Pull it before it scrambles.

  4. 4

    Strain into a clean bowl. Fish out the pod. Chill until cold, at least 4 hours or overnight. The churn can't save a warm base.

  5. 5

    Pour the cold custard into the ice cream maker. Churn until it looks like soft-serve and the paddle leaves trails, usually 18 to 25 minutes.

  6. 6

    Pack into a cold container, press parchment on the surface, and freeze until you can scoop it, 2 hours or more.

Notes

  • A compressor machine can churn back-to-back. A freezer-bowl machine needs a bowl that's been frozen solid — usually 24 hours.
  • Using extract instead of a bean? Add it after you strain, so it doesn't cook off in the pan.
  • Leftover egg whites? That's the Swiss meringue buttercream.

Special tool: Ice cream maker (compressor or frozen bowl). See the specialty we use.