Nothing beats custard-based homemade vanilla ice cream!! Ultra creamy and rich, this time-tested recipe is so easy to make with just 5 basic ingredients.
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Is making homemade ice cream worth it?
After a few trials of making ice cream from scratch, I had given up on the idea. I secretly thought nothing beats Haagen-Dazs! Hehe
And that was until I tried this unbelievably rich ice cream made by my former co-worker, Matt. As it turns out he’s an ice cream connoisseur and his specials are chocolate and pistachio ice creams!
I’m so grateful that he’s so generously shared his base recipe with all of us. I can now confidently claim homemade ice cream is the best!
Ingredient Notes:
- Milk – I highly recommend whole milk for richer texture.
- Vanilla bean – I love using vanilla beans as it gives those beautiful vanilla specks and better vanilla flavor. This brand of vanilla bean is my go-to. But you can substitute vanilla bean paste, if you prefer.
- Sugar – Sugar plays an important role in this recipe. Sugar not only adds sweetness, it also helps to prevent crystallization. I don’t recommend reducing sugar anymore than this, or you’ll get hard, icy ice cream.
- Heavy whipping cream – It’s a crucial ingredient in this recipe, as it provides the majority of butterfat to make the creamiest and richest ice cream.
- Egg yolk – If you’ve got leftover yolks from making meringue-based desserts, like Pavlova or meringue cookies, then this is a perfect way to use them up! Note: farm fresh egg yolks are richer and make the ice cream yellow as pictured above.
- Salt – A tiny bit of salt enhances the vanilla flavor and balances out the sweetness! Don’t skip it!
How to make this ice cream recipe:
Step 1. Heat milk
- We’ll start with making a custard. I use 2.5qt saucepan to heat the milk with half of the sugar, salt and vanilla.
- Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks with remaining sugar in another bowl until nice and pale yellow.
Step 2. Temper egg yolks
- Then, add half of the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture, while whisking non-stop.
Tip
This process is called “tempering” which basically means slowly heating the egg yolks before adding it into the hot milk. That way yolks won’t scramble.
Step 3. Cook the custard
- Now, put the tempered egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with milk. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Make sure to cook the mixture gently!
Tip
2 ways to check if the custard is ready:
- Check with an instant thermometer. The mixture should reach 180°F.
- Or, coat a back of spoon with custard and run a finger through. If the trail stays, then it’s ready. If the mixture immediately closes, it needs more cooking.
Step 4. Chill
- Pour heavy cream into a medium bowl and place a sieve over it. And pour the custard mixture into heavy cream and strain it through a sieve. Whisk the mixture until well combined.
- Cover the custard with a plastic wrap, making sure plastic touches the custard to prevent skin to form. Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
Tip
Pouring hot custard into a cold heavy cream stops further cooking and expedites the chilling. No ice bath necessary!
Step 5. Churn
- To churn the ice cream, pour the chilled custard into the frozen ice cream maker and churn according to your specific ice cream maker’s instructions.
- At this stage, you’ll get soft-serve ice cream.
- Transfer the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for a few hours.
FAQ:
“Philadelphia-style” ice cream is made without eggs. However, ice cream made with egg yolks are creamier and richer.
If you don’t have any eggs or are following an egg-free diet, then my 2-ingredient strawberry banana ice cream recipe is an easy delicious alternative.
No. Half and half doesn’t have enough butterfat to produce rich and creamy ice cream.
This vanilla ice cream is custard-based ice cream, which means it’s thickened with cooked egg yolks and milk mixture.
The sky is the limit when it comes to serving this yummy ice cream. Serve vanilla bean ice cream in a crispy wafer cone or in a bowl topped with ganache or salted caramel sauce.
You can also serve brownies, waffles and cakes with a dollop of ice cream!
MY FAVORITE ICE CREAM MAKER!
I’ve been using this Cuisinart ice cream maker for 8+ years and I love it! It’s compact and easy to use.
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 cup (240ml) whole milk
- 1 vanilla bean Note 1
- ½ cup (100g) granulated sugar
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 4 egg yolks
- 1 ½ cups (360ml) heavy whipping cream
Instructions
The night before:
- Place freezer bowl of the ice cream maker in freezer for at least 16 hours.
To make custard:
- In a 2.5qt saucepan, place milk, scraped vanilla beans and its pod, half of the sugar and salt. Heat the mixture over medium low heat until scalding, about 5 minutes. Do NOT boil the milk.
- Meanwhile, in another bowl, combine egg yolks with remaining sugar and whisk it until nice and pale yellow.
- To temper the yolks, pour in half of the warmed milk into the egg yolk mixture, while whisking non-stop.
- Now, put the tempered egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan with milk. Cook the custard over medium heat, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Make sure the mixture doesn't boil, it should cook gently. (TIP: 2 ways to check if custard is done: 1. The mixture should reach about 180°F. 2. Or, coat a back of spoon with custard and run a finger through. If the trail stays, then it's ready. If the mixture immediately closes, it needs more cooking.)
- Pour heavy cream into a medium bowl and place a sieve over it.
- Pour the custard mixture into heavy cream and strain it through a sieve. Whisk the mixture until well combined.
- Cover the custard with a plastic wrap, making sure plastic touches the custard to prevent skin to form. Refrigerate it for at least 3 hours, or overnight.
To churn:
- Pour the chilled custard into the frozen ice cream maker and churn according to your specific ice cream maker manual. You'll get soft serve ice cream at this stage.
- Transfer the ice cream into an airtight container and freeze for a few hours.
Tips & Notes
Nutrition
How much bean paste would you use to replace the vanilla bean?
Hi, Margaret. 1 teaspoon of vanilla bean paste should be good. Hope you’ll enjoy!
Yum yum yum !! This was just like frozen creme brûlée!! It’s rich and smooth and purely delicious.
I made some for a hot apple pie that a friend brought over. I didn’t want to wait for the custard to cool , so I put the bowl in a bowl of ice and stirred it every few minutes until it was really cold and then threw it in my little red cuisinart ice cream maker. I never strained the mixture as it had no lumps that I could see. I also scraped the beans but threw the pods in the pot while the milk was cooking, I just picked them out before I transferred he custard to the bowl to cool..
I am so happy that this recipe can go together in no time at all.. A few minutes to cook the custard, another little while to cool it in the manner that I did and I left mine in the ice cream maker for 30 minutes. It maybe took an hour, or long enough for us to have a few glasses of wine and catch up before sitting down for our snack. Thanks for the wonderful recipe, this was my first time using my ice cream maker and I love it! I can’t wait to try some more recipes.
Yay, so happy to hear you enjoyed the ice cream, Robin! And the apple pie is perfect with this ice cream!! Sounds like you had a great time with your friend.
What a smart way to chill the custard quickly too. Thank you so much for your feedback.
This ice cream is the perfect vanilla recipe. I’ve been trying to find a good one for awhile. I’ve tried others that are too sweet, or not very vanilla, but this was just what I was looking for! The ingredients came together perfectly. Thank you for this yummy recipe!
Rachel, so happy you got to try this. It’s a family favorite and I’m so glad you loved it too. Thank you for stopping by and leaving your feedback.
Hi Shinee, I want to try to make this ice cream. But I do not have an ice cream maker. Any ideas how I can still make this work without the ice cream maker. Would really appreciate your assistance. Colette
Hi, Colette! I’ve never tried this but I’ve heard about this method a while back. You put the chilled ice cream mixture in the freezer, and beat with an electric mixer every hour or so until it reaches the ice cream consistency. The idea is to whip as much air as possible while the mixture freezes. I know it sounds like a lot of work, and that’s why I bought an ice cream maker. Hope this helps. If you do try this, let me know how it works out.
When does the salt go in? Finished the custard, put it in the fridge and then noticed the salt. Read recipe a few more times. Didn’t find it in the directions. Would it be ok to add it to the custard and mix it in before it goes into the ice cream maker?
Oops, my bad, Kathie. Salt goes in at the end of step 2. I’ll update the recipe. So sorry for confusion. I’m afraid the salt won’t dissolve in cold custard.
Hi Shinee,
I made this ice cream yesterday, this was my first time making homemade custard style ice cream. I didn’t have any vanilla beans since I used them all to make my own vanilla extract. But I did have vanilla bean paste, i used 1 TBLS.
Waiting for the ice cream to freeze is the hardest part! We froze it overnight…..
This morning, my daughters had some for breakfast because we couldn’t wait to try it! THEY LOVED IT! This ice cream is so smooth, creamy and super delish!!!
Thank you for sharing this recipe! It was easy and I will be making this again!
Cristine
Cristine, this is the sweetest comment I’ve got in a while! I’m so happy your girls loved it. And ice cream for breakfast is totally fine, right? 🙂 You’re right, this ice cream is smooth and creamy. Thank you for your feedback!
Hi I am really looking forward to making this recipe however my ice cream machine makes about a gallon of ice cream at a time. How would I adjust measurements properly to get the expected outcome?
Hi, Britany! This recipe makes about 1 quart of ice cream. Since 1 gallon is about 4 quarts, I think you can double, triple or even quadruple the recipe. Check the manual for your ice cream machine and see if there is any specification on minimum amount of ice cream to be churned. Have fun!
What is the yield on this?
Hi, Michelle. This recipe makes about 4 cups of ice cream. Thanks!
I’m wondering how my prefrozen mixture is only measuring to a little over 6 cups? ( I’m tripling the recipe) I’m not thinking it will expand to 12 C even after freezing.
Hi, Candace! During churning process, the custard will be aerated and pretty much double in size. In step-by-step photo above, you’ll notice that the custard is only about half way in the ice cream maker. As the machine runs, the custard expands (as it gets more air) and fills the bowl to the top. Hope this helps. 🙂 Hope you enjoy the ice cream.
Oh Lordy!! This is sooooooo delicious! I couldn’t quite make out all the directions on my grandmothers recipe card anymore and this one had same ingredients so I HAD to try it out! We will be serving this for our annual 4th of July party! Thanks so much for sharing this!
Sandi, I’m so glad you found this! Ever since I got this recipe from my coworker, it’s been a staple in our family. Hope you have a fun and safe holiday weekend!
This recipe is absolutely worth trying. My family love it. Measurements are all accurate. Not over sweet. Thank you for sharing.
I’m so happy to hear your family loved it. It’s the #1 dessert requested by my MIL. Everyone loves it. Thank you for your feedback, Ong!