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Old-Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Old-fashioned homemade vanilla ice cream made with a rich vanilla custard base, heated to steaming, steeped, then cooked until it coats a spoon. Churned vanilla ice cream yields dense, creamy scoops with visible vanilla bean specks throughout for a classic vanilla ice cream texture.
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Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 508
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Cream base
  • 2 cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
  • 5 egg yolks
  • 1 vanilla bean Split and scraped (or use pure vanilla extract as instructed).
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven
  • 1 ice cream maker

Method
 

Infuse the dairy
  1. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds; add the pod and seeds to a saucepan with the heavy cream and whole milk.
  2. Heat the cream mixture over medium heat until steaming and just beginning to simmer; remove from heat and let steep 15 minutes, then remove the pod.
Make the custard
  1. Whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar together until pale and thick.
  2. Slowly pour the warm cream into the yolks while whisking constantly to temper the eggs.
  3. Return the mixture to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickens to coat the back of a spoon (175F).
Strain, cool, and chill
  1. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, stir in the salt, and cool over an ice bath.
  2. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight until fully chilled.
Churn and freeze
  1. Churn the chilled custard in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  2. Transfer the churned ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze until firm.

Notes

For the smoothest vanilla custard, keep stirring during the 175F stage and stop as soon as it coats the back of a spoon—overcooking can make it grainy. Cover and refrigerate the custard base up to 2 days before churning. After churning, freeze up to 2 months. For a dairy-light swap, use whole milk plus reduced-fat cream, but expect slightly less richness and a softer set.