“Oh hear’st thou rather pure ethereal stream,
Whose fountain who shall tell? before the sun,
Before the heavens thou wert, and at the voice
of God, as with a mantle didst invest
The rising world of waters dark and deep,
Won from the void and formless infinite.”
– John Milton, “Paradise Lost”
Tonight I tasted heaven. Honestly; I can’t even describe to you how good this ice cream was. It was unlike any ice cream I’ve had before; even the best ice cream in the best restaurants with the best pastry chefs. This was silky and buttery and luscious. It felt like sex in silk pajamas on a cloud with Yoko Ono. Well, not with Yoko Ono. Oh my God, this ice cream was so good.
The recipe is listed in the Premium Ice Cream chapter of the ice cream cookbook that came with my ice cream maker. The ingredients cost an insane amount: almost $15. That’s like five cones at Ben & Jerry’s. But one scoop of this rich, creamy, velvety ice cream would send Ben and Jerry heading for the hills.
It began with a vanilla bean.
The recipe said the vanilla bean should measure six inches, and mine did:
[Julia Child reminds us: “It’s not the size of your vanilla bean, it’s how you use it.”]
Slice the vanilla bean in half:
Scrape up its seeds on the back of your knife:
Now prepare the cream and milk:
1.5 cups cream, 1.5 cups milk goes into a saucepan with the vanilla seeds and the pod.
Bring to a medium boil, then reduce to a simmer.
MEANWHILE, back in Gotham, Bruce Wayne prepares the eggs.
We want two whole eggs and three egg yolks. [“But what do I do with the egg whites?” whines Bruce. “See the meringue post beneath this, you dummy!”]
[Edited to add: “Add Sugar!!! 3/4ths a cup!”]
Now mix until pale yellow and thick, about two minutes:
After the cream, milk, and vanilla simmers for 30 minutes, pour out a cup into a measuring glass:
Slowly pour the hot liquid into the mixing egg mixture:
Let that mix for a moment, and then pour the mixture mixture into the original mixture: [How’s that for clear direction?]:
Mix over medium low heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon:
Pour into a bowl:
Cover with saran wrap (directly on the custard):
Refrigerate for hours.
Go to dinner, eat salad, sing a song about it.
Then, get your ice cream maker ready. Pull the freezer bowl out of the freezer. Shake to make sure there’s no liquid. Put in place.
Then remove the bowl of custardy vanilla goodness from the fridge. Prepare to pour:
Pour:
Next time, pour from something with better precision.
Watch your ice cream churn:
Follow Jeremy’s advise in the comments and scrape down the sides now and then.
Let twenty minutes go by.
Doesn’t that smell amazing?
And then:
Behold its stiffness! Behold its glory!
Serve in a coffee mug:
Watch your roommate’s eyes light up. Watch Katharine’s body quiver with contentment. Watch your cat chase a shoelace around the apartment.
Someday I want to make a list. The list will be called: “Things To Cook For People Who Don’t Cook To Convert Them Into People Who Cook.” These will entail dishes that are so jaw-droppingly good; so sensually gratifying that it will keep people up at night, craving their next opportunity to make it. This vanilla bean ice cream will surely make the list. It has me quoting Milton and lusting after Yoko Ono. It’s that good.
THAT…LOOKS…SO…GOOD.
You know, I know where you live ;)
Congrats on your new machine. I have one of those and love it. The first ice cream recipe I tried was from a June 2000 Atlantic Monthly article by Corby Kummer (a great food writer) called Toscanini’s Burnt-Caramel Ice Cream. It’s still available on-line, I think. It is absolutely, I mean truly, amazing. (If I were the type of person to use exclamation marks freely, I would add several to the end of that sentence.) Plus it’s fun to burn.
I just purchased a vanilla bean at Whole Foods. $6.25 for 1 measely bean. This ice cream had better be worth it! Can you use this recipe with the standard electric barrel homemade ice cream machines as well?
can you make this without the ice cream maker?? i am going to try up to the final stages and then just keep on mixing it around by hand every 5 mins or so….
let you know how it goes.
Why Pay $6.25 a bean? I get all of my vanilla beans from http://www.beanilla.com — They have the most reasonable prices for some of the best vanilla beans around!
thank you – i was searching for a vanilla bean ice cream recipe and your step by step instructions made all the other ones make sense
thank you – i was searching for a vanilla bean ice cream recipe and your step by step instructions made all the other ones make sense
I must have done something wrong…In the step where you mix everything together and heat it, my mixture became really solid and eggy. The subsequent ice cream was smelly and tasted weird. Any suggestions?
Thank you for this! I made a double batch of it and have it in the freezer for Thanksgiving to go with all that pie! yum!
It was AMAZING!!!
This had really great flavor! One thing I would add is to strain before chilling. Just in case there are any lumps of egg and remove the vanilla bean. I know sounds like a no-brainer but some first timers may not think of it…but to say again. excellent step by step directions.
P.S. if you have any leftover cranberry sauce from thanksgiving….warm it up and put it over the ice cream…I know…sounds weird…but really good..hot & tart over cold & sweet.
This had really great flavor! One thing I would add is to strain before chilling. Just in case there are any lumps of egg and remove the vanilla bean. I know sounds like a no-brainer but some first timers may not think of it…but to say again. excellent step by step directions.
P.S. if you have any leftover cranberry sauce from thanksgiving….warm it up and put it over the ice cream…I know…sounds weird…but really good..hot & tart over cold & sweet.
This is great…don’t forget to remove the vanilla bean and I would recommend straining before chilling the mixture. But the flavor ROCKS !!!
p.s. if you have any leftover cranberry sauce, heat it up and put it over the ice cream. May sound weird but it’s good. Hot & tart over cold & sweet. I serve this all the time as a dessert. drizzle a little chocolate around the bowl and stick a chocolate stick in for garnish…looks cool.