Oregon Transplant: Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

I warned you it was coming, and now...

It's heeeeeeeere!

My very first homemade ice cream. Actually, not the first. Well, yeah, kind of the first. I brought you this Frozen Banana Ice Cream last year, but as my lovely husband pointed out, that was just pureed bananas that kind of tasted like ice cream. This is my first true ice cream.

The hubby and I were not disappointed. My little brother got me a homemade ice cream maker for Christmas. I've been dying for an ice cream maker forever, it just always seemed to be one of those items that never got prioritized. We always had something on the list that we needed more. But now, I have one. I decided to make a simple vanilla bean ice cream first, mainly for the hubby. My first choice would have been Reese's Peanut Butter Cup! That's always my first choice, LOL. I'm sure I'll get around to that at some point.

The vanilla bean was pretty darn easy to make. It's basically a custard-style ice cream, so you make a traditional custard that chills in the fridge before you pour it in the ice cream maker. It really does taste exactly like custard. Creme brûlée to be exact.

And no wonder, you use a similar process of infusing the milk with vanilla bean, and then whisking in an egg mixture. How is it that milk infused with vanilla bean becomes this amazing, almost magical mixture? At any rate, it's a step not to be skipped.

I will point out about this ice cream maker, in case anyone is interested, that the freezer bowl must be completely frozen before starting. We put the freezer bowl in our garage freezer to initially freeze, but when we removed it, we could still hear a little bit of water sloshing around. We proceeded, only to learn that the custard wasn't getting cold enough. The hubby then put the freezer bowl in our kitchen freezer, and it froze completely. Turns out the garage freezer is, like, 2º warmer than our kitchen freezer and those 2º made a huge difference. Once the bowl was completely frozen, the ice cream maker whipped and froze our custard into something incredibly amazing.

The hubby and I couldn't stop watching the ice cream maker do its magic. It was crazy how the custard (which looked like milk when first poured into the maker) changed from a loose liquid into a thick mixture that began to look like a milkshake. Pretty soon the "milkshake" was so thick, it officially looked like ice cream and the maker slowed down so much, we knew it was done.

I'll be honest with you all, I'd never had homemade ice cream before. It is truly something special. I remarked to the hubby that it tastes like frozen creme brûlée. The hubby went gaga over the rich vanilla bean taste and the smoothness of the custard. He was officially in seventh heaven. And he has been every night he's been munching on this.

It's officially another Monday! Another weekend, dust in the rearview mirror. The hubby had the weekend off, which we found awesome. Highlights of the weekend include:

-Oscar movies (Wild, American Sniper, and Boyhood)

-"Sons of Anarchy"

-cycle time at the gym, for both our knees

-Our friend's son's 5th birthday party

-Burgers and beers at the brewery

-Ginger Soy Glazed Mahi Mahi

-Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream!

I hope everyone has a fantastic week! This promises to be the first week of the new year where things should calm down. In theory, I'm looking forward to it. We'll see :)

Ingredients (makes 6 cups):

2 cups whole milk

2 cups heavy cream

1 cup granulated sugar, divided

pinch of sea salt

1 vanilla bean, seeds scraped

5 large egg yolks

Directions:

1. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, whisk together the milk, cream, half the sugar, salt, and vanilla bean (including pods). Bring the mixture just to a boil, but do not let it boil.

2. While the mixture is heating, combine egg yolks with remaining sugar in a medium size bowl. Beat using a hand mixer until pale and thick (3-4 minutes).

3. Stirring the milk mixture constantly, slowly begin pouring egg mixture into milk. Do this in slow additions as to not overcook your eggs. You want to temper them. Once the egg mixture is thoroughly added, constantly stir the mixture over low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. This process should only take a few minutes.

4. Strain the mixture through a fine mesh strainer. Allow custard to come to room temperature before chilling in the fridge for 2 hours, or overnight.

5. Turn on ice cream maker. Pour custard into ice cream maker and let mix for 20 minutes or until thickened. Ice cream will have a soft, creamy texture, but placing it in the freezer for 15-20 minutes should harden it up if that's what you prefer. Store remainder in freezer.

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