Basic ice cream recipe (and how to flavor it) | Salon.com

Heat milk, about half the sugar, half the cream, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Bring just to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. If steeping for flavor, add your ingredients, take off heat, and cover.Meanwhile, in large-ish bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the other half of the sugar.When the steeping is done, strain or fish out the flavorings and reheat the milk mixture, just until hot. Pour about half of it in a slow stream into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. (This is called tempering the yolks, and it heats them up evenly without turning them into scrambled eggs.) Pour the milk-yolk mixture back into the pot and cook it over medium-low heat, stirring constantly and making sure you're scraping the bottom. Cook it until it's thick enough to coat the back of your spoon: Swipe the spoon with your finger. If it leaves a trail about the width of your finger, it's ready. Don't let it boil.Strain the ice cream base through a fine-mesh sieve into a metal bowl. (The straining catches any bits of egg that may have scrambled; it's kind of optional if you were careful.) Stir in the rest of the cream, and let cool. Cover and chill in fridge until cold, at least 6 hours or overnight. (If you really don't want to wait, dunk the bowl in an ice water bath, stirring, until it's cold.) At this point, you have what they call crème anglaise, a lovely dessert sauce. (If using fruit purees or booze, this would be a good time to stir it in.)Freeze in ice cream maker, according to manufacturer's directions or your preference.If doing a mix-in, chill a large metal bowl in the freezer or set it up in ice water bath. Gently fold in the ingredients to the ice cream in this cold bowl when it's fresh out of the machine.Pack ice cream in an airtight container and let it set in freezer until firm, at least another 4 hours.