Sweet Cream Take 2

Since I have been trying to improve the consistency of my ice cream, I decided to do a redo on my sweet cream ice cream. There were two reasons for this. First, sweet cream ice cream is a good base off of which to build other flavors. I want to make sure I have a base that both both tastes good AND has a good consistency, as I start to design other flavors. The second reason is that it was my husband's birthday and he loves sweet cream ice cream. Rather than making a cake, I decided to make some sweet cream ice cream. In order to gain a better consistency than I did my first time around, I turned to my trusted source, Bon Appetit magazine, and made sure to use plenty of egg yolks as stabilizers.

Sweet Cream or Vanilla Ice Cream (Courtesy of Bon Appetit)

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup sugar

Pinch of kosher salt

1/2 vanilla bean, split lengthwise, or 1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 large egg yolks

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

Combine cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a medium saucepan. Scrape in seeds from vanilla bean; add pod or add vanilla extract. Bring mixture just to a simmer, stirring to dissolve sugar. Remove from heat. If using vanilla bean, cover; let sit 30 minutes.

Whisk egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl until pale, about 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in ½ cup warm cream mixture. Whisk yolk mixture into remaining cream mixture. Cook mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thick enough to coat a wooden spoon, 2–3 minutes.

Strain custard into a medium bowl set over a bowl of ice water; let cool, stirring occasionally. Process custard in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Transfer to an airtight container; cover. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours and up to 1 week.

Note: In order to make the sweet cream ice cream, I left out the vanilla. My husband loved the ice cream. Sweet cream and Honey Thyme are competing for first place in his mind.

Until next time, keep calm and get your ice cream eating on.