famiree time: ice cream endeavor, part 9: vanilla

okay, back from ice cream hiatus. my family moved from the house we'd been living in for 15 years to an apartment half the size in the city. exciting, but stressful and tiring and time-consuming. hence, no time to make ice cream, nor blog about it.

i made this vanilla ice cream before the chaos, but didn't get the chance to write about it. simply put: the best vanilla ice cream, ever. EVER. seriously! it's not quite as creamy as french vanilla but is much creamier than your standard vanilla bean, and so much more flavorful than any store-bought variety, from french vanilla to vanilla bean and everything in between.

vanilla ice cream (from the perfect scoop)

(makes about 1 quart)

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

warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of the cream, and salt in a medium saucepan. scape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the warm milk and add the bean as well. [the tiny beans were stuck in clumps and i wasn't sure if they would de-clump while churning or not, so i did a few quick stick blender pulses and they separated immediately.] cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 30 minutes.

pour the remaining 1 cup into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top. in a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as your stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula. pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. put the vanilla bean into the custard, add the vanilla extract, and stir until cool over an ice bath.

chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator. when ready to churn, remove the vanilla bean, rinsing and reserving it for another use, and then freeze the mixture in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.