Simpler Living Blog

COOKING, FAMILY ACTIVITIES, RECIPES

Homemade Ice Cream: How to Create the Perfect Flavors

Editor's Note: July is National Ice Cream Month, and we're celebrating with making our own ice cream. Read on to discover yummy ways to create the best homemade ice cream. (Originally published July 2018)

"The whole is only as good as the sum of its parts” definitely applies when making homemade ice cream. Why? Because of the simplicity of taking 3 common ingredients; dairy, eggs, and sugar, and changing them into luscious, creamy ice cream is awesome. Once you have homemade ice cream, you will never look at grocery store ice cream the same again!

Finding a basic recipe that can serve as your starting point is the first step in your flavor journey. When I started my research for this article, I quickly realized there are as many recipes out there as there are places to find them: online sites, cookbooks, family recipes. After trying different ones, “my guinea pigs” (aka my family) found this one to be the perfect fit. It is delicious as vanilla ice cream and the perfect starting place to add fresh fruit, candies, and nuts in combination to your heart’s desire.

Old-Fashioned, Hand-Churned Vanilla Ice Cream

Dori Fritzinger

Discover the deliciousness of homemade ice cream. Here's how to make your own as well to create the perfect flavors for your batch!

Ingredients

3/4 cup sugar
Pinch salt
6 large egg yolks
2 vanilla beans, split and seeds scraped
2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 cups whole milk

Instructions

In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar, salt, yolks, and vanilla seeds until completely smooth, then set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium to medium-high heat, combine the cream and milk and cook until small bubbles form around the edges and the mixture is hot.
Remove the milk mixture from the heat.
Slowly drizzle the hot cream mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly.
Return the saucepan to medium-low heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened and the mixture coats the back of a spoon, about 5 to 7 minutes.
Remove from heat and strain the custard into a large bowl.
Place the bowl in an ice bath and cool the custard, stirring occasionally.
Store the custard base in the refrigerator until ready to churn.