Homemade vanilla ice cream is a simple classic. It's great for a decadent chocolate sundae, yet still delicious on its own. People often say, you can judge the quality of an ice cream parlor's ice cream (or any business' ice cream) by just trying the vanilla all by itself. I completely agree, and you definitely won’t be let down by my vanilla ice cream recipe.
This homemade vanilla ice cream is made by using a custard base; many would call it a French vanilla ice cream. The cooked egg custard gives it a characteristic rich taste.
Recipe
1 recipe custard base
1 vanilla bean (split)
1)Follow the first step in the custard base recipe and combine the milk cream and sugar (do not start heating).
2)Next, you need to scrape out the seeds of the vanilla bean (they contain all that delicious and aromatic vanilla flavor). First, just split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise. Then scrape the seeds out with a knife and combine them with the milk cream and sugar.
3)Now just follow the rest of the custard base recipe, and that’s it!
*note, if you do not have any vanilla bean on hand, this recipe can also be made with vanilla extract (although, I do recommend using vanilla bean). If you decide to use vanilla extract, just follow the recipe for custard base, and when you are finished, stir in one tablespoon of vanilla extract.
Homemade French Vanilla ice cream is really one of my favorites. It’s easy to make, the pure vanilla flavor really shines through, and I just love piling on a ton of toppings (fruit, nuts, chocolate, candy, etc.). It’s no wonder that vanilla ice cream is by far America’s favorite!