This is the perfect recipe for Vanilla Bean Ice Cream– a great base for topping with goodies!
I’ve always been a vanilla girl. I’d choose blondies over brownies, I’d much rather be eating white cake than chocolate, and I’d eat vanilla ice cream over chocolate ice cream any day of the week! So a homemade tub of vanilla bean ice cream… churned freshly in my favorite ice cream maker… doesn’t last very long in my house.
My ice cream maker is getting a workout these days. It seems like it snowed for the last time just a few weeks ago, then we got a week or so of weird rain showers, and now the temperature has shot up like a rocket. It’s hot. Like 100 degrees hot! It’s “I need ice cream all day long” hot! Vanilla ice cream topped with a little caramel or hot fudge is the absolutely best. Adding rainbow sprinkles on top is a big, fat bonus 🙂
But since I love vanilla so very much, a scoop of plain vanilla ice cream is just about the best thing ever to me. I love the sweet cream flavor with that strong flavor of vanilla. I know it’s probably quite rare, but would you choose vanilla over chocolate too??
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 whole vanilla beans
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1½ cups granulated white sugar
- 3 large eggs
Instructions
- Halve the vanilla beans lengthwise with a sharp knife. Scrape the seeds into a large saucepan and stir in the vanilla bean pods, cream, milk and sugar. Bring the mixture just to a boil, stirring occasionally, and remove from heat.
- In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Temper the egg mixture by adding the hot cream mixture to egg mixture just ¼ cup at a time, adding the hot cream very slowly and whisking constantly. Don't add it too quickly or you'll end up with some scrambled eggs!
- Once the egg mixture has warmed up a bit from the cream, pour the entire mixture back into the saucepan and cook the base over a moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170°F. (Do not let boil).
- Pour the ice cream base through a fine sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Cover the bowl and chill the ice cream base at least 6 hours, or until cold (or up to 1 day). The mixture really must be chilled well in order for the ice cream to freeze properly.
- Follow the instructions for your ice cream maker to freeze the ice cream. Transfer the ice cream to an airtight container and store in the freezer to harden.
Notes
- This ice cream may be made up to 1 week ahead.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Here are a few more vanilla ice cream recipes you might enjoy:
- French Vanilla Ice Cream by Simply Recipes
- Caramel- Chocolate Nut Ice Cream by RecipeGirl
- Vanilla Ice Cream with Olive Oil and Sea Salt by Honestly Yum
- Vanilla- Coconut Milk Ice Cream by The Nourishing Gourmet
I’d pick vanilla over chocolate every time. We’ve been making ice cream for the last year and a fresh vanilla bean never disappoints. This looks so wonderful!
Your vanilla bean ice cream looks divine! It used to be all about that chocolate for me..but I’m coming around! 🙂
I wish it was a little warmer here in Nj, summer hasn’t officially kicked in yet. I’m a vanilla girl myself and this recipe looks so refreshing.
You can’t beat the classics and I’m plain vanilla girl all day long!