Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

It's not the first time I made ice cream, but it is the first time I made it 'properly'...


I've done Bailey's and chrysanthemeum flavours before, but I was lazy previously and only churned the cream 3-4 times as it froze. This time, I churned it 5-6 times over a span of 5 hours. The result is a creamy texture and no ice granules within. However, even though I did reduce the amount of sugar used, the end product is still a little too sweet for my liking, so I'll have to reduce it further next time.

The little black specks you see are the seeds of the vanilla bean.

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Ingredients:
Full cream milk 1cup
Heavy cream 2cups
Egg yolks 6
Sugar 120g
1 Vanilla Bean
Pinch of salt

1. Warm the milk, sugar, 1 cup of cream and salt, preferably in a non-stick pot.
2. Split the vanilla bean length-wise. Scrap the seeds into the mixture, and put the whole bean in. Cover and steep for 30 minutes.
3. Whisk the 6 egg yolks until slightly frothy.
4. Pour the milk/cream mixture from Step 2 into the egg yolks.
5. Return the mixture into the pot and stir over medium heat. Stop when the mixture thickens slightly, but be careful not to let it curdle into custard!
6. Pour the remaining 1 cup of cream in a seperate bowl.
7. Strain the milk-cream-egg mixture from Step 5 into the cream. Whisk over cold water until the mixture cools.
8. Put into your ice-cream maker as per manufacturer's instructions.

In the event you do not own an ice-cream maker like me:
1. Place the mixture in the freezer, until it thickens but not completely frozen.
2. Using a hand whisk or an electric beater, whisk the mixture well for about a minute.
3. Place the mixture back into the freezer. Repeat the steps as many times as possible. Finally, place into a container of choice and allow it to freeze completely.

Note: The more times you repeat the above steps, the creamier the texture and the less likelihood that your ice cream will develop ice granules. Also, the time taken for it to solidify reduces as you repeat the steps, so watch the time.