Spectacular Vanilla Ice Cream Recipes

Steps:

• Whisk the cream, milk, sugar, vanilla and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a medium saucepan and bring to a simmer over medium heat. Beat the egg yolks in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk 1 cup of the hot cream mixture into the beaten yolks, then pour back into the saucepan, whisking, and return to medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until the mixture thickens, coats the spoon and reaches 180 degrees F on a thermometer, 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a large bowl or measuring cup; discard the solids. Stir often until the mixture cools to room temperature. Lightly press plastic wrap directly against the surface of the custard to prevent a skin from forming. Chill until cold, about 3 hours. (For faster chilling, set the bowl of custard in a bowl of ice water and stir until cold.)
• Freeze the mixture in an ice cream machine according to the manufacturer's instructions. (Take care not to over-churn the ice cream or it can have a grainy texture.) Place the ice cream in the freezer to set up for at least 1 hour. Serve.

Steps:

• In a large bowl, combine the heavy cream and the half and half. Gradually whisk in the sugar until blended.
• Whisk in the vanilla. Refrigerate, covered, until very cold, at least 3 hours or as long as 3 days.
• Whisk the mixture to blend and pour into the canister of an ice cream maker. Freeze according to the manufacturer's directions. Eat at once or transfer to a covered container and freeze up to 8 hours.

Steps:

• In a large saucepan, heat milk to 175°; stir in sugar and salt until dissolved. Whisk a small amount of hot mixture into the eggs. Return all to the pan, whisking constantly. Cook and stir over low heat until mixture reaches at least 160° and coats the back of a metal spoon. , Remove from the heat. Cool quickly by placing pan in a bowl of ice water; stir for 2 minutes. Stir in whipping cream and vanilla. Press waxed paper onto surface of custard. Refrigerate for several hours or overnight. , Fill cylinder of ice cream freezer two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. When ice cream is frozen, transfer to a freezer container; freeze for 2-4 hours before serving. Garnish with sprinkles if desired.

Steps:

• Melt butter in heavy small saucepan over medium-high heat. Whisk in brown sugar and cream; bring to boil. Add lime juice, lime peel and salt. Boil until sauce is reduced to 3/4 cup, whisking occasionally, about 2 minutes. Set caramel-lime sauce aside.
• Place 1/3 cup sorbet in each of 4 parfait glasses or wineglasses. Top sorbet with 1/4 cup pineapple, 1/4 cup mango, 2 tablespoons coconut, 2 tablespoons sauce and 1/3 cup ice cream. Sprinkle each parfait with 1 tablespoon coconut and drizzle with 1 tablespoon sauce. Serve immediately.

Steps:

• In a heavy saucepan over medium heat, combine cream and milk. Place vanilla bean and scrapings in pot, and sprinkle with half the white sugar. Allow to just come to a boil.
• Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks together with the remaining sugar and the vanilla extract in a bowl. When the cream is ready, pour a third of it into the egg mixture, and whisk. Pour egg mixture into remaining hot cream and return to the heat until mixture coats the back of a metal spoon. Do not boil.
• Strain custard and chill until cold. Then pour into the canister of an ice cream maker and freeze according to manufacturer's instructions.

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 large bowl, mix condensed milk and fruit puree/flavorings thoroughly.
• In a separate bowl, beat chilled whipping cream until stiff peaks form.
• Fold whipping cream into condensed milk mixture, along with any stir-ins (like cookie pieces, fruit chunks, candy, etc.) that you desire.
• Pour into a plastic or metal container (not glass), cover, and freeze for at least 4 hours or overnight. Scoop and enjoy!
• Makes about 1 1/2 pints (3 cups).
• Note on flavorings: Fruit puree or a strong fruit juice (even concentrate) works well, but be sure it's unsweetened or relatively sour or your ice cream will be too sweet. Lemon juice works great, as does margarita mix; top with crushed pretzels when serving for a salty-sweet treat. Or use brewed coffee or tea. If using tea, steep 3 teabags in 1/3 cup of hot water for about 5-7 minutes and press the water out of the teabags when removing them. I just made an excellent chamomile tea ice cream this way; it had a lovely, delicate flavor.
• Another note: I've heard you can substitue Cool Whip for the whipping cream--I'd go with about 1 1/2 to 2 cups--but as I haven't tried it myself, I can't vouch for the results. It would make it lower fat and easier to put together, but the texture might suffer.

Steps:

• In a bowl, mix the egg yolks with the sugar. Stir until thick (once its mixed well it will be thick).
• In a saucepan, scald the milk (bring slowly to a boil).
• Slowly pour the hot milk into the egg yolk mixture, stirring constantly.
• Pour the mixture back into the saucepan (I use a larger saucepan for this part) and heat gently, stirring until the custard thickens. Be careful not to bring it to a boil or it will curdle. When you can see a film form over the back of the spoon, remove the saucepan from the heat. Let cool.
• Once cool, stir the heavy cream and vanilla extract into the custard mixture.
• Take out the ice cream maker's frozen bowl and set it into the ice cream maker. Put in the arm. Put the top on. Turn the ice cream maker on. Pour the mixture into the ice cream maker. You will have yummy ice cream in 25 minutes.