Ice Cream Comfort

During this stay at home time we're all looking for comfort foods. At our house a favorite is homemade ice cream. We started the stretch of many home meals with a birthday dinner the second week of March including home made ice cream. Last week we celebrated it being another week and we needed something special. Don't we all feel like that sometime?
The first batch of ice cream was made in a traditional home (White Mountain) ice cream freezer that my daughter and son-in-law received for a wedding gift. So they were in charge of the ice and churning. The second batch took a different turn when the local convenience store didn't have ice. It 'aged' a day in my refrigerator while my the cylinder for my tabletop ice cream maker froze in the freezer. I've had this electric ice cream maker several years and often use it for smaller batches. It uses about 3 cups of ice cream mix, compared to the traditional freezer which uses about 6 cups. Just when I though this recipe couldn't be improved I tried strawberry. To use the remaining half-and-half and whipping cream, I added strawberry soda pop to equal 3 cups and while mixing put in about 1 cup chopped frozen strawberries. The Best!

I've experimented and read with various tips, and here's what I've found:
* This recipe below is the absolute best one I've come across! And we have lots of eggs so are well supplied for making it. ( a future blog on using egg whites!) The farm fresh eggs we have never get 'pale in color' as there recipe calls for, but give an off white tint to the vanilla ice cream.
* "Aging" the mix in the refrigerator for 24 hours develops the flavor.
* You can serve it 'soft serve' style just out of the ice cream freezer, or put it in a container to freeze solid in your freezer. Our family likes it soft serve, but many like the flavor that develops from a hard freeze.
* Using vanilla paste is a taste changer! It is a concentrated vanilla extract with the consistency of maple syrup or liquid glue. It gives a bright bold vanilla flavor that is delicious. One tablespoon equals one vanilla bean (which the recipe originally called for).
* Tempering the egg yolks is important, pour a bit of the heated half-and-half mixture into the egg yolks, whisking as you pour. This warms the egg yolks gradually so they can be poured into the hot mixture without cooking into lumps.

The Birthday Boy enjoys this part of
homemade ice cream best. 

From the oldest to the youngest, we all
enjoy ice cream! 

ICE CREAM – VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

Ingredients:

1 whole vanilla bean, split and scraped (1 Tbs. vanilla paste)

3 cups Half-and-Half

2 cups sugar

8 whole (up to 9) Large egg yolks

3 cups heavy cream

Directions:

Heat half-and-half and 2 cups sugar I a saucepan over low heat, adding vanilla to the mixture. Turn off heat when mixture is totally heated. 

Beat egg yolks by hand or with an electric mixer until yolks are pale yellow and slightly thick. Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling some of the half-and-half mixture unto them, whisking constantly. After that, pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture back into the pan contain the rest of the half-and-half/sugar mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat until quite thick, stirring constantly. Drain custard (if you used a vanilla bean) using a fine mesh strainer. Pour into a bowl with the heavy cream. Stir to combine. 

Chill mixture completely, then freeze in an ice cream maker until thick. Place container in freezer to harden for at least eight hours.