VANILLA BEAN ICE CREAM

By gaster16

Ingredients

• 2 vanilla beans
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1-1/2 cups sugar
• 3 large eggs

Preparation

Step 1

With a knife halve vanilla beans lengthwise. Scrape seeds into a large heavy saucepan and sti in pods, cream, milk and sugar. Bring mixture just to a boil, stirring occasionally and remove pan from heat.

In a large bowl lightly beat eggs. Add hot cream mixture to eggs in a slow stream, whisking, and pour into pan. Cook custard over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until the custard thickly coats the back of a spoon, or until a thermometer registers 170 degrees. Dot not let boil. Pour custard through a sieve into a clean bowl. Place the bowl in a large owl if ice water and let the custard chill, stirring occasionally.

Freeze custard in an ice-cream maker, in 2 batches if necessary. Transfer ice cream to an airtight container and put in freezer to harden. Ice cream may be made one week ahead.

To make chocolate ice cream, put 1/2 pound of finely chopped bittersweet chocolate in a large bowl, and pout the hot thickened custard over the top, Let sit for 1 minute, and stir until smooth. Chill and freeze as above.

To make strawberry ice cream, hull and slice 1 pound fresh strawberries, puree in a food processor. Transfer the puree to a bowl, stir in 1/2 cup sugar and 1 tablespoon lemon juice and chill. Add the puree to the chilled custard and freeze as above.