Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

I know that this makes two dessert recipes in a row, but on the off chance that you aren’t going to just whip up a 6 layered birthday cake this weekend (although it would be an AWESOME pot-luck donation!) I wanted to post about the other half of the ‘cake and ice cream’ duo that we served at the party last weekend.  And since it is Memorial Day weekend coming up-three days of BBQ’s, parades, giving thanks and hopefully some special treats and drinks-I wanted you to have this a few days before so you could gather the ingredients.  But before we get to the recipe, lets chat a bit about ice cream makers, shall we?

The above picture was taken about ten seconds after I pulled the paddle out of the bowl and licked it clean whilst standing over the sink.  Half melted ice cream was dribbling down my chin, and I may or may not have been making what I am sure were very unladylike grunts and groans of pure pleasure.  The bowl in the picture is my ice cream maker and it is actually an attachment for my Kitchen Aid.  I mentioned this briefly in a previous strawberry ice cream blog, also a winner to serve this weekend.  The bowl is kept in the freezer so when you are ready to freeze your ice cream, you just take it out and it locks on to whatever model of Kitchen Aid that you happen to have.  It comes with a special paddle attachment to churn the cream base and voila!  Homemade ice cream!  Quite spectacular if you ask me and not terribly expensive if you already own the mixer.  But, obviously any kind of ice cream maker will work.  There are the ones you toss around like a ball (I like the green ones) and they are inexpensive and fun, ice cream makers with a hand crank but are still electric, and then just your basic electric ‘plug-in and leave alone’ kind.  So if you are looking for one, try this, or research and take your pick. You can find every kind imaginable.

And just in case you are thinking that they aren’t worth the investment, let me put your fears to rest.  Unless you and your whole family are severely lactose intolerant, you secretly hate ice cream and would never make it for family and friends, or you have some kind of sickness that prevents you from ingesting food colder than 50 degrees (“Excuse me, but could you microwave my iced tea?  Thanks.”) , you might want to consider it.  There really is nothing like homemade ice cream.  And you can’t use the excuse of time either!  Yes, my last few recipes for ice cream include egg yolks and cooking and stirring over a stove and straining and cooling, but that is only because I prefer the rich custard-y taste of egg based creams.  There are endless recipes out there that take no more effort than dumping a few ingredients together in a bowl.  Sometime this summer I will post my recipe for cream cheese ice cream.  No eggs, no fuss and it is Off.  The.  Hook.

So back to today’s recipe, my daughter refused to let me alter it.  I actually had another recipe to test and then I was going to compare and adjust and tweak.  But she put her foot down.  This was the ice cream she wanted with her cake and she begged me to make it again, just how it was.

So here it is.  Pretty darn tasty and I should mention that my favorite part is the fact that it doesn’t freeze completely firm.  Usually with homemade ice cream you have to let it sit out for a bit before you serve it because it freezes so hard.  This recipe is perfectly scoopable right from the freezer.  Its a little thing, I know, but extremely handy when feeding a crowd.  Or when you are desperate for a bowl of it covered in mini chocolate chips and you are in the middle of an Alias marathon and are frantic to find out if the Rimbaldi prophecy about Sydney Bristow is true and you just don’t want to take the time to fight with ice cream that is hard as a rock!  You know.  Hypothetically. Vanilla Ice Cream
Adapted from Martha Stewart

2 c milk
6 large egg yolks
3/4 c plus 2 T sugar
2 c heavy cream
2 tsp vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, warm the milk until steaming and hot, but not bubbling.  Meanwhile, with an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat egg yolks and sugar on medium-high speed until thick and pale.  Slowly pour a small amount of milk into egg-yolk mixture, beating on low speed until blended. Continue adding milk, about 1/2 cup at a time, beating until incorporated after each addition.  Return mixture to the saucepan and stir with a wooden spoon over low heat until mixture is thick enough to coat back of spoon, 3 to 5 minutes. Custard should retain a line drawn across the back of the spoon with your fingertip.  Remove pan from heat and stir in cream.  Pour custard through a fine mesh sieve into a medium bowl and chill in the fridge until cold, preferably overnight.  Stir in vanilla. Freeze in an ice-cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.