Friday, July 21, 2017

Homemade ice cream

Recipes: Vanilla bean ice cream, Summer peach ice cream


Vanilla bean ice cream with fruit

Very little says summer like ice cream, and homemade ice cream is the best of the best. With an electric ice cream maker, it's also very easy to make, and even with an old-fashioned manual crank maker, it's worth the effort. 

Don't think it can be a last minute decision, though, like 'oh let's have ice cream for dessert' as you start dinner at 5:30 p.m. There is some time involved as the ice cream maker tub chills (6 to 24 hours) and as the custard that will become the ice cream chills (3 hours to overnight) before it goes into the ice cream maker. You must plan ahead a bit, and you will be well rewarded!

The ice cream maker I bought is a Cuisinart with a capacity of 2 quarts. There are several different brands available, and most of them include a tub which must be frozen for 6 to 24 hours before ice cream can be made in it. I recommend keeping this tub, wrapped in a plastic bag, in a corner of your freezer, preferably in the back which is coldest, so it's ready to go when you are.





Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 2/3 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 large eggs


With a knife halve vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape seeds into a large heavy saucepan. Sitr in pods, cream, milk, and sugar. Bring mixture just to a boil (watch it carefully or it'll boil over and make a mess!), stirring occasionally. Remove pan from heat.

In a medium bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add hot cream mixture to eggs in a slow stream, whisking, and the pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until a thermometer registers 170F. This will only take a few minutes. Do not let it boil.

Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl and cool. Chill custard, its surface covered with wax paper or cling film, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day.

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker according to the directions for your machine. If you want the ice cream to be hard, once it's done (about 35 minutes for most), transfer it to an airlight container and put in freezer to harden. It may be kept in the freezer for a week, if you can stay away from it for that long.

This ice cream is very rich. It is, of course, amazingly delicious. The next time I make it, I may try substituting 1 cup half and half for 1 cup of the heavy cream, just to see if it's still fabulous and I can save a few calories.


Summer Peach Ice Cream

Disclaimer: I have not yet made this ice cream, but I have it on the word of a VERY reliable friend/cook that it is fabulous. Since peaches are in season, I'll be trying it next! The recipe comes from The Greens Cookbook, a 1980's compilation from the celebrated vegetarian restaurant Greens in San Francisco.

  • 1 vanilla bean
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups heavy cream
  • 3 egg yolks
  • 1/2 plus 1/3 cup sugar
  • 5 or 6 peaches (use any kind of peach as long as it is ripe and full of flavor)

Slit the vanilla bean in half lengthwise and put it in a saucepan with the milk and 1/2 cup of the cream. Set it over a medium low flame to heat, and while it is warming, beat the yolks and the 1/2 cup sugar together.

Stir the hot milk slowly into the yolks and sugar, taking care not to create too many bubbles. Return the mixture to the pan and set it over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon. Check the back of the spoon frequently, and as soon as the custard is thick enough to coat it, remove it from the heat and pour it directly into a bowl. This will only take a few minutes. (Be careful not to let the custard come to a boil, or it will curdle.)

Pour the cooked custard through a strainer into a clean bowl, then stir in the remainder of the cream. Scrape the seeds out of the vanilla bean into the custard, put the pods back in, and set the custard in the refrigerator, with waxed paper on its surface, until it is thoroughly cooled.

Peel the peaches and slice them. Use a potato masher or large fork to break them into a very coarse puree that has plenty of small chunks of fruit. Stir the remaining 1/3 cup sugar into the fruit, and let it sit until it has dissolved, about an hour.

When the custard is well chilled, remove the vanilla pods, add the peaches, and freeze according to the instructions of your ice cream machine.



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