Recipe: Good Ol' Vanilla Ice Cream

So the other day, my parents asked me what I wanted for my 18th birthday. I really had nothing in my mind, so I immediately thought about all of the possible cooking utensils and products that I have yet to buy. At the time, I was reading the dessert section of Thomas Keller's cookbook AD HOC AT HOME. Just then, I saw a recipe for making vanilla ice creams that made me realize what I have always wanted: an ice cream maker.

I ended up buying a Cuisinart ice cream maker for about 80 bucks at William Sonoma, and immediately started preparing to make some ice cream. I was leaning toward making a milk/cream based ice cream rather than an cream/egg yolk based ice cream, simply because I was way too lazy to crack open 8-10 eggs and extract the egg yolks, and yada yada yada....

For my first ice cream, I decided to use Alton Brown's recipe for "Serious Vanilla Ice Cream." The recipe called for way too much sugar, and made the ice cream mixture ridiculously sweet. So I added extra heavy cream.

The result: An extremely rich and decadent ice cream with a sweetness that didn't overwhelm my palate.

On this occasion, my friends and I ate the ice cream with some fresh berries, crepes, and melted chocolate.

GOOD OL' VANILLA ICE CREAM

cooking time: about 1 hour

actual time it takes to make: about one day

Directions:

Ingredients

• 2 cups half-and-half
• 1 cup whipping cream
• 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

directions

Combine all ingredients (including the bean and its pulp) in a large saucepan and place over medium heat. Attach a frying or candy thermometer to inside of pan. (see note below) Stirring occasionally, bring the mixture to 170 degrees F. Remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Remove the hull of the vanilla bean, pour mixture into lidded container and refrigerate mixture overnight to mellow flavors and texture.

After refrigerating, a thin film of thicken cream may form at the surface of the ice cream mixture. Remove the film of cream, and taste. If too sweet, add cold heavy cream.

Freeze mixture in ice cream freezer according to unit's instructions. The mixture will not freeze hard in the machine. Once the volume has increased by 1/2 to 3/4 times, and reached a soft serve consistency, spoon the mixture back into a lidded container and harden in the freezer at least 2-3 hours before serving.

NOTE: If you do not have a thermometer, bring the mixture just barely to a simmer. As soon as you see a bubble hit the surface, remove it from the heat. Do not let it boil.