Making ice cream at home is certainly a treat, right? There are many ways to make it at home, but after testing several methods, I've finally landed on this recipe for Homemade Vanilla Custard Ice Cream and have claimed it as our "house ice cream". Read on for a little childhood flashback, why I like a custard base, reasons to make ice cream at home, and a look at my ice cream maker. And of course, the recipe is at the end.
Why vanilla custard?
Flavor and texture are the reasons, plain and simple. I love the richness of flavor that a custard gives and the texture is very similar to a store bought ice cream once it spends a little time in the freezer.
Do you know what a custard ice cream is? I'm just sitting here assuming that you do! A custard ice cream starts as a cooked pudding of sorts, is left to cool, then is frozen.
Reasons to make homemade vanilla custard ice cream:
Ice cream is one of the most convenient foods to buy so there aren't so many people who make it at home. But it really is worth the effort for the following reasons:
- simple ingredients - literally 5 ingredients!
- no preservatives - they aren't needed!
- make your favorite flavors - you can add chocolate, fruits, herbs ... endless possibilities!
- It tastes AMAZING!
The method is to dissolve the sugar in the whole milk and cream, then heat it gently. Use the heated milk mixture to temper the eggs (that means to just warm them up a little before fully incorporating them). Then you let it thicken a bit before chilling it completely in the fridge.
I like to make the custard the day before I freeze the ice cream because I want to be sure that it is very cold.
What kind of ice cream maker to use
Of course, you can use the old fashioned crank kind with lots of extra ice and rock salt! But most of us prefer an electric version these days, I think. I have the ice cream maker attachment for my KitchenAid mixer. I keep the ice cream bowl in the freezer so it's always ready when I want to make ice cream. If you don't have room in your freezer to do that, be sure to pop it in when you put the custard in to chill the day before. I think the bowls need at least 15-20 hours to chill well.
Serve with fruit, cookies, chocolate, cake, pie ... Or just scoop it up straight!
Recipe
Homemade Vanilla Custard Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 cups heavy cream
- ¾ cup sugar
- pinch salt
- 5 large egg yolks
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Instructions
- Prepare an ice bath by putting ice and cold water in a bowl large enough to hold another bowl inside.
- In a small bowl, whisk the egg yolks.
- Combine the milk, cream, sugar, and pinch of salt in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar and heat over medium heat. Do not boil.
- Pour a little of the warmed milk mixture into the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Return the egg yolks to the saucepan.
- Cook the custard, stirring constantly with a spatula, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. If you're unsure about when it is ready, you can check the temperature with an instant-read thermometer. It should read about 170°F.
- Stir in the vanilla extract.
- Pour the custard into a bowl and put the bowl immediately into the ice bath. Stir the custard until it cools.
- Refrigerate thoroughly, preferably overnight, then freeze it in your ice cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions.
- When finished, cover and freeze until firm.
Alanna
This recipe is perfect. I have it written on a post-it note in my cupboard so I always have it handy. The texture and flavor are outstanding. Best ice cream recipe I've ever found. Thank you so much.
Tammy Circeo
Thank you, Alanna! I have a few recipes posted in my cupboard as well. 🙂
Kevin Smith
I am a single guy who doesn't cook much. I own a small peach orchard in TN of about 110 trees, purely as a hobby, so this time of year I have an abundance of fruit. I recently spotted an electric ice cream maker at good will for $5 and decided to try and make peach ice cream. I made this recipe and added a cup of fresh peaches and some peach juice (made from pressing the peelings) and it was AMAZING. I tried a recipe without eggs yesterday and there is no comparison....yours is best by a country mile! So thanks for this, and to others who might want to add some fruit, I recommend it highly.
Tammy Circeo
Oh my goodness. I'm so happy about this comment ... can't even tell you. I also live in Tennessee (north of Nashville) and ice cream in the summer with all the fruits is a staple, right? I'm glad you shared your measurement of fruit and I LOVE that you pressed the peelings for the juice! Wow. Probably wasn't much juice, then? Maybe a tablespoon or so? Love it. Thank you for sharing.
Mary Jane Guimond
Please tell us how much fresh fruit we would add to this recipe or how much cocoa to make chocolate? Is this a universal vanilla custard that we could add any flavoring to? Do you have a list of amounts of flavorings to add?
Tammy Circeo
If you add cocoa to make it chocolate, you'd have to add more sugar. I'll work on specifically chocolate recipe for you! As for fresh fruit, I'd start with about 2 cups. I suggest creating a puree from some of it and drizzling it in towards the end of the churning. Be sure to taste the fruit for sweetness. You might need to add some sugar to the fruit if it's not sweet enough.
Danielle
Can you make this using an old fashion churn? The kind you take turns turning 🙂
Tammy Circeo
Of course you can! And I'm sure if you're asking, that you know to layer the ice around the container with rock salt and you might have to keep adding ice and salt while you're churning. I have lots of childhood memories of making ice cream with my family in one of those old-fashioned ice cream makers!
Margie J
Yumm!! Easy. I will be serving this as a second scoop to a very tart lemon custard. (topped with a few fresh raspberries for extra elegance and flavor)
Tammy Circeo
That sounds lovely, Margie! Bon Appetit.
Timothy
Wife made this recipe and we used it in our Ninja Creami machine. This is absolutely to die for. Excellent. Smooth, rich, and easy to blend in the creami.
Tammy Circeo
So glad you liked it! It's my favorite vanilla ice cream!
Susan
I guess I need to go see what other types of attachments come with a KitchenAid Mixer! I never knew you could get an ice cream attachment! I now have it on Amazon "wishlist" 🙂
Tammy Circeo
It's so very convenient! I also have the meat grinder, peeler/corer/spiralizer, and the pasta attachment.
Hayes Jessica
How does the kitchen aid ice cream maker keep it cold? Does it have a solution or water inside the bowl?
Tammy Circeo
The ice cream maker attachment for the KitchenAid is a walled bowl with a liquid between the walls. I keep mine in the freezer so that it's ready to go when I'm ready to make ice cream. You can get much more detailed information by doing an internet search, I'm sure.