Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, French-Style

August 12, 2011

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my disclosure policy.

Jump to Recipe

There are primarily two methods in making ice cream. One is called Philadelphia-style and only requires mixing together your cream and sugar with another flavoring, then dumping into the ice cream maker. The other (my favorite) is called French-style and includes cooking up a custard base to give the ice cream a richer taste and creamier texture. Today, I'm sharing with you the French-style method.

Don't be afraid of the egg yolk custard. And, while you're at it, save the egg whites to make ice cream cones (recipe to come). Also, don't fear the price for vanilla beans. You can find the best deal here without sacrificing the quality. It's also important to use good vanilla extract, which I also found at a decent price from the same shop.

Vanilla is the ice cream I make most often because it can be used in so many ways. You can eat it plain, create your favorite sundae, serve it alongside a favorite pie, or do something I did with it that I'll be sharing sometime next week. 🙂 You can't wait, can you?

Recipe Card

Print Recipe

No ratings yet

Prep Time8 hours hrs

Cook Time25 minutes mins

Total Time8 hours hrs 25 minutes mins

Servings: 1 quart

Author: Nikki Gladd

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean , split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warm milk and add the pod as well. Stir and cover. Remove from heat and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly to avoid curdling, then scrape back into the saucepan.
Heat over medium heat, while stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula and scraping the bottom of the pan as you stir. Continue to heat and stir until the mixture thickens into a custard and coats the spatula. Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. Strain the custard through the mesh strainer and stir it into the 1 cup cream. Transfer the vanilla pod into the strained custard, mix in the vanilla extract, and stir until cool over an ice bath.
Chill overnight in the refrigerator. When ready to churn, remove the vanilla pod, rinsing and reserving for another use, and then freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
Source: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz

Nutrition

Serving: 1g

Tried this recipe?Take a pic and tag @seededtable or #SeededAtTheTable to be featured!

« DIY Homemade Flour Tortillas

Penny's Weekend Garnish »

About Seeded At The Table

Thanks for visiting! We’re the Gladd family! We love donuts, Disney, LEGO and Jesus. Not in that order, of course. 🙂 Ben shares DIY wood-working projects and Nikki shares delicious recipes. You’ll also find a sprinkling of travel adventures and other family fun ideas!

Reader Interactions

Comments

Kate says
November 19, 2017 at 10:56 am

Nikki, here's the link. If you go on Pinterest and do an image search, you can see it that way, too.
Reply
- Nikki Gladd says
  November 19, 2017 at 8:36 pm
  
  Interesting! Thank you! (I deleted the link so to not draw traffic to it.)
  Reply
Kate says
November 18, 2017 at 1:02 pm

This exact photo is published on an All Recipes site for a coconut ice cream. Is the photo yours?
Reply
- Nikki Gladd says
  November 18, 2017 at 6:19 pm
  
  Hi Kate,
  Yes. This is my photo that I personally took. Do you have a link to that recipe? Thanks!
  Reply
Derenda says
March 28, 2016 at 7:19 pm

Could this be made prior to an event then froze?
Reply
- Nikki Gladd says
  March 29, 2016 at 12:44 pm
  
  Yes, this keeps in the freezer.
  Reply
Phyllis says
August 13, 2015 at 12:50 pm

I have the mixture cooling in an ice bath and wondered if the overnight chilling in the refrigerator is absolutely necessary?
Reply
- Nikki Gladd says
  August 13, 2015 at 1:55 pm
  
  Hi Phyllis,
  If you want it to eat some of it right away after churning, then yes. Otherwise it will not freeze and thicken enough if it doesn't start out cold.
  Reply
  - Phyllis says
    August 16, 2015 at 3:03 am
    
    Thank you! It turned out great! My family loved the bright vanilla taste and creaminess of it! The consistency was perfect. Perfect accompaniment with the chocolate cake for my husband's birthday.
    Reply
    - Nikki Gladd says
      August 16, 2015 at 4:29 pm
      
      Yay! So glad, Phyllis! Thank you for coming back and letting me know! 🙂
      Reply
A says
October 05, 2011 at 5:27 pm

A little confused with the directions. In the second paragraph, it says "Pour the remaining 1 cup cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top" and to put the eggs in a second bowl and then pour the eggs in into the heated milk (I'm assuming the milk that has the sugar and bean in it). How does the remaining 1 C milk come together with the eggs and the heated sugar/vanilla milk mixture?
Reply
- Nikki says
  October 05, 2011 at 10:16 pm
  
  Hi A,
  After reading through my directions again, I could definitely see how confusing it was. I rewrote a few of the steps to try and clarify. Hopefully it helps! Thanks!
  Reply
Polwig says
August 12, 2011 at 8:06 am

Beautiful. I never knew of two styles and since i am getting an ice cream maker soon this is a perfect post. BTW you can find "cheaper" vanilla beans in places like marshalls or tjmax.
Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, French-Style - Easy Recipes for Family Time - Seeded At The Table (2024)

Recipe Card