I never considered making vanilla ice cream because well… It’s vanilla and not too exciting. I’ve also never really liked vanilla too much – perhaps because a lot of “vanilla ice cream” out there are not actually vanilla ice cream and I’ve never had one that I actually liked. Real vanilla is also a pretty expensive ingredient.
The husband never requests for ice cream but he somehow, randomly, requested for vanilla ice cream. So here we go!
Recipe references Ample Hills Creamery, they add coffee beans to their ice cream for a slight hint of bitterness and nuttiness, like something is there but it isn’t. It’s pretty interesting and while I felt the ice cream wasn’t “vanilla-y” enough (ok but what is “enough” anyway?), the hint of coffee was interesting. I didn’t tell the husband about the coffee and he didn’t call it out haha. He also commented the ice cream is not “vanilla-y” enough but was growing on him, so I guess that’s still a win?
Next time I will stick to Ample Hills’ recipe and use both vanilla bean and vanilla extract for double dose of vanilla.
After making this batch, I think vanilla ice cream might be a staple in our freezer. We’ve been adding it to different desserts to ‘zhng’ them, like Tiong Bahru Bakery’s Kouign Amann!
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
Learn how to make the best vanilla bean ice cream at home with this easy recipe. This classic ice cream is made with real vanilla beans and handful of coffee beans for added complexity! It's perfect for a summer treat or a special occasion dessert.
Ingredients
Instructions
-
In a saucepan: Add milk, sugar, skim milk powder. Whisk to combine.
-
Add heavy cream to saucepan.
-
With a paring knife, split vanilla bean pods and scrape seeds out using the back of the paring knife (or a spoon). Add vanilla bean seeds AND the entire bean to the saucepan.
-
Add ~30 coffee beans to saucepan.
-
Separate 3 eggs and place egg yolks in a medium bowl.
-
Place saucepan over low-medium heat, heat and continually whisk until mixture is hot and steam just begins rising from the surface. Do not let it boil. Turn off the heat.
-
Temper egg yolks: Ladle a small amount of the hot mixture into the egg yolks while continually whisking. Add about 3-4 ladles of hot milk mixture.
-
Add tempered egg yolk mixture back to the saucepan. Turn heat back on to low-medium, stirring continually with a heatproof spatula until mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula.
-
Pour mixture through a sieve to catch coffee beans and vanilla bean pods. Cool mixture down in an ice bath and in the fridge for at least 24 hours.
-
Once mixture is very cold, churn in ice cream machine according to manufacturers' instructions. Transfer ice cream to a container and freeze for at least 8 hours until ice cream is firm and scoopable.
