24 July 2012

Vanilla Ice Cream

This is probably the most common ice cream, and the less flamboyant when you visit a lovely italian ice cream shop and you can not make a desicion because of the many amazing flavours they have. But the vanilla ice cream is the essential to join any cake, milkshake, brownies... and of course also alone.



Let's go to make an easy and creamy ice cream, which does not require an ice cream maker.

INGREDIENTS

500 ml heavy cream
250 ml whole milk
4 eggs yolks
130 g caster sugar
2 vanilla bean
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Split vanilla pods lengthwise and scrape out all the seeds.

Place the vanilla seeds, pods and milk in a sauce pan and heat, remove from the heating juste before starting the bubbles at the edges and let it cool down.

Combine eggs yolks and sugar with an electric mixer until thick and pale yellow.

In a separate bowl whisk heavy cream until you can make peaks.

Remove vanilla pods from the milk and add graduatly eggs yolks and sugar mixture and beat until well combined and smooth. Finally add vanilla extract. 

Pour the mixtue into a freezer-proof container and refrigerate it for 45 minutes, after this period remove from the freezer and mix it well to prevent crystallizing. Repeat this process two times more. At the last process you can mix also with an electric mixer.

If you have an ice cream maker just follow the instructions of the manufacturer.

After 3 hours you could enjoy a creamy ice cream. 


Notes: Egg yolks amount can be changed to your liking, but is very important to use good quality eggs, also the color will be more nicer. Used vanilla pods can be rinsed and dried, and stored in a sugar jar.





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