Custard Icecream Recipes

Steps:

• Combine the heavy cream, milk, vanilla bean and seeds, and vanilla extract in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat until the mixture almost reaches a gentle simmer, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from the heat. Meanwhile, set a fine-mesh sieve in a medium bowl (preferably metal), then set the bowl in a large bowl of ice water; set aside.
• Whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt in a separate medium bowl. Ladle one-quarter of the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture and whisk well. Whisk in another one-quarter of the cream mixture, then pour the cream-egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining hot cream.
• Return the saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon in a figure-eight, until slightly thickened (a thermometer should register 180˚ F), 6 to 8 minutes. If at any point the mixture starts to simmer, remove from the heat, continue stirring, reduce the heat to medium low, then return to the heat (you do not want the custard to thicken too quickly or the eggs to scramble).
• Immediately strain the custard through the sieve into the bowl set over the ice water. Return the vanilla bean to the custard and let the custard cool, stirring occasionally, about 1 hour. Cover and refrigerate until very cold, at least 1 hour or overnight.
• Remove the vanilla bean, then transfer the custard to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's directions until the consistency of soft serve. Transfer to a freezer-safe container, cover and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.

Steps:

• In a large heavy saucepan, combine sugar, flour and salt. Gradually add milk until smooth. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Reduce heat to low; cook and stir 2 minutes longer. Remove from heat., In a small bowl, whisk a small amount of hot mixture into eggs; return all to pan, whisking constantly. Bring to a gentle boil; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat immediately., Quickly transfer to a large bowl; place bowl in a pan of ice water. Stir gently and occasionally for 2 minutes. Press plastic wrap onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight., Stir cream and vanilla into custard. Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. (Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze.) Transfer ice cream to freezer containers, allowing headspace for expansion. Freeze 2-4 hours or until firm. Repeat with remaining ice cream mixture.

Steps:

• To churn in a machine: In a bowl, mix the ingredients well together. Churn in the ice-cream machine until scoopable. Transfer to a freezer container and freeze until needed.
• To churn by hand: Mix the ingredients in a bowl and freeze in the bowl for about 90 mins until it starts to freeze around the edges. Stir well then repeat the process twice more until the mix is smooth and frozen. Freeze in a suitable container until needed.

Steps:

• Pour the single cream into a medium saucepan. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways with a sharp knife and place it in the pan. Set the heat to medium and heat the cream until it just starts to steam a little. Switch off the hob and let the saucepan sit there. The heat will draw the vanilla flavour into the cream.
• Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar for a minute, until they turn thick and a little paler.
• Pour the saucepan of hot cream into the sugary egg mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour it all back into the saucepan.
• With the heat set very low, stir the creamy mixture constantly with a wooden spoon so it doesn't stick to the base of the pan but heats slowly and evenly. To see if the custard has heated enough, check from time to time with this classic test: take the spoon out of the custard and look at the back of it. The film of custard on the spoon should look noticeably creamier. Draw your finger across the back of the spoon and, if the line stays clear and distinct, your custard has thickened enough.
• Turn off the heat and carry the saucepan over to the work surface. Carry on stirring for a few more seconds so the cooking process is halted and the custard starts to cool down. Strain the custard through a sieve into a jug.
• As soon as the custard has cooled to room temperature, put the jug in the fridge for half an hour, then stir in the double cream. Either pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn it until it freezes or pour it into a plastic food container.
• Freeze it for about an hour or until the sides start to get solid. When this happens, mash up the mixture with a fork, mixing the frozen sides into the liquid centre. Put it back in the freezer straight away for another hour. Repeat this twice more at hourly intervals and then let the ice cream set.

Steps:

• Combine milk and cream in a medium saucepan. Add vanilla seeds and pod. Bring mixture to a simmer over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally; remove from heat.
• Whisk together egg yolks, sugar, and salt in a large bowl. Gradually whisk in half of milk mixture. Pour egg-milk mixture back into pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, 6 to 8 minutes.
• Pour custard through a fine sieve into a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice water; discard vanilla pod. Let cool, stirring occasionally. Cover and refrigerate until cold, at least 1 hour; custard base can be refrigerated up to 2 days ahead.

Steps:

• In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Whisking constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers' instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed.

Steps:

• Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and salt together until mixture changes from dark golden to pale yellow becomes fluffy.
• Heat milk and cream in a heavy saucepan over medium heat. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking to the bottom. Cook just until mixture starts to simmer when little bubbles begin to appear on the surface, 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Whisk a ladleful of milk-cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture. Add another ladleful and whisk thoroughly before adding the next (this will keep the eggs from cooking). Gradually add the remaining milk-cream mixture and whisk thoroughly. Whisk in vanilla. Cool completely (you can place the bowl in a larger bowl with ice water to cool it faster).
• Pour cooled mixture into a pitcher; cover. Refrigerate until ice cold or overnight.
• Pour custard mixture into ice cream maker and process (according to manufacturer's instructions) until custard reaches the consistency of soft ice cream, about 20 minutes. Quickly transfer to a plastic container. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the surface of the custard. Cover container and freeze until custard is firm enough to scoop, at least 3 hours.

Steps:

• Put the canister from the machine into the freezer a day before you want to make the ice cream. Next day, pour the cream and milk into a medium heavy-based pan, then tip in half the sugar. Slit the vanilla pod down its length with a small sharp knife and scoop out as many of the tiny black seeds as you can into the cream mixture. Cut the pod into three and drop it into the pan.
• Heat the cream and milk over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it almost boils - you'll see a few bubbles at the edge. Take off the heat and set aside for 30 minutes so the vanilla can infuse.
• Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the rest of the sugar and beat with an electric hand beater for about 2 minutes until the mixture has thickened, is paler in colour and falls in thick ribbons when you lift the beaters. Using a measuring jug, scoop out about 125ml/4fl oz of the cream mixture and beat into the egg yolks to slacken them. Reheat the cream until it just comes to the boil, take off the heat and stir in the egg yolk mixture.
• Return the pan to a low heat and cook, stirring all the time with a wooden spoon, for 8-10 minutes, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon. Watch that it doesn't boil - as soon as you see any bubbles about to burst to the surface, it should be thick enough, so take the pan off the heat so the mixture doesn't curdle.
• Pour the custard into a heatproof bowl, then sit it in a bigger bowl one third full of iced water to cool (this takes about 20 minutes). Stir occasionally to stop a skin forming. Put the bowl of custard in the fridge for 3-4 hours, preferably overnight, so it gets really cold.
• Get the ice cream machine running, scoop out the vanilla pod pieces, then slowly pour in the cold custard. Leave it to churn for 10-30 minutes (depending on your machine). When it stops, it is probably too soft to eat, so spoon into a plastic container, cover with cling film, then a lid, and freeze for a minimum of 3 hours. (It will keep in the freezer for 3 months but don't take it out, then refreeze.) Remove from the freezer 15 minutes before serving.
• To make it by hand: in step 1, heat the milk, vanilla, and half the sugar without the cream (the custard will be slightly thicker). At the start of step 6, whip the cream so it's light and floppy, not too stiff, and fold it into the cold custard. Freeze for 3-4 hours, stirring once an hour until almost frozen, then freeze as above.

Steps:

• In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Stirring constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
• Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers' instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed.