This is The Best Vanilla Ice Cream and the only ice cream recipe you would ever need! It's infused with vanilla bean and decadently creamy. It's super easy to make and can be made ahead to serve with pretty much anything. We serve this ice cream in the summer with berries or peaches, but it's also great with grilled fruits and winter baked desserts like chocolate cake or apple crisp.
Whisk together the egg yolks and sugar until they're combined, then slowly whisk in the half and half.
Add the vanilla bean and sea salt and begin to cook your custard over medium heat, whisking constantly.
Once the custard thickens (but does not come to a boil, about 10 minutes on medium heat) remove it from the heat source and pour in the heavy cream along with the vanilla extract.
Whisk to combine and strain the mixture through a fine mesh sieve. At this point, you can add the vanilla beans back to the custard to steep while it cools in the refrigerator 6 hours or overnight.
When the custard is chilled, remove the vanilla beans being sure to scrape out any extra seeds, and freeze the ice cream according to your manufacturer's instructions.
I use a 2-quart Cuisinart ice cream maker and it takes around 15 minutes to freeze my ice cream. You'll know it's ready when it's frozen enough to stay on a spoon without sliding right off.
When the ice cream is frozen, it will be like soft serve. It will take an additional 6-8 hours in the freezer for a firm, fully frozen ice cream.
This ice cream is perfect right out of the freezer, and only needs 5 minutes on the counter for a softer texture.
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Notes
I find custard ice creams easiest to make in a 2 day process, but if you started early in the morning you could have it the same day!This recipe used to call for 8 egg yolks, but after many.. many batches I've found 7 egg yolks to be better with less chance of an 'egg' flavor in your finished ice cream. I also slightly changed the amount of sugar and half and half, but the final product is very similar just a little bit better!It will take about 10 minutes for your custard to fully thicken over medium heat. I don't recommend turning up the burner, (until you're confident making custard) though because it's too easy to wreck a custard over high heat. Most ice cream recipes call for a double boiler system to cook the custard - I've done it both ways many times and I don't find the double boiler necessary at all. In fact it increases your cooking time and it's easier to get distracted.