One of our favorite things about the warmer weather is enjoying some delicious homemade ice cream on the patio at the Inn. For those who didn’t know, we have afternoon happy hour daily from 4:30 to 7:00 p.m. and, in the summer, we feature homemade appetizers and other goodies, cookies and fresh lemonade. And, if you ever get the opportunity to sample our homemade ice cream you may never go home! This week on the blog, we’re sharing a recipe to make delicious homemade ice cream in your very own kitchen.
Ingredients
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise
6 large egg yolks
3/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
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.
If you’re craving strawberry, chocolate or even mango ice cream, this recipe leaves you plenty of room to be creative. We’d love to hear how you spiced up your ice cream, so leave us a comment below.
Source: The Perfect Scoop, by David Lebovitz
