Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Step 1

Whisk together the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a large saucepan.

Step 2

Gradually whisk in the milk and cream.

Step 3

Cook the mixture over medium to medium to high heat for about 10 to 15 minutes or until the mixture thickens. It needs to come up to a bubble in order for the cornstarch to thicken the mixture.

Step 4

In another bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and vanilla bean paste.

Step 5

Add about 1/2 cup of the hot cream to the yolk mixture very slowly, whisking constantly. You do not want the yolk to scramble.

Step 6

Gradually add the rest of the cream mixture. I thought that my mixture needed a few more flecks of vanilla, so I added a bit more vanilla bean paste. Ideally, you would cover this with plastic wrap (make sure that the plastic wrap touches the surface of the ice cream so that it does not form a skin) and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours or overnight. I needed vanilla ice cream for something else that I was making so I used the ice bath method instead.

Step 7

Fill a large metal bowl with ice cubes and cold water.

Step 8

Put the vanilla bean ice cream into the water bath. When the ice cubes melt, add more until the mixture is cold. About 45 minutes?

Step 9

Pour the mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze according to the directions that came with your ice cream maker. Mine takes about 30 minutes.

Step 10

Pour the frozen ice cream into another container and let freeze until firm.