Go Back

Old-Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

Old-fashioned homemade vanilla ice cream made with a silky vanilla custard base that’s steamed, steeped, then gently thickened to coat a spoon. Churned vanilla ice cream turns out pale golden and dense, with visible vanilla bean specks in every scoop.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
chilling + freezing 4 hours
Total Time 4 hours 35 minutes
Servings: 8 servings
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American
Calories: 520
Ingredients Equipment Method Notes

Ingredients
  

Heavy cream
  • 2 cup heavy cream
Whole milk
  • 1 cup whole milk
Granulated sugar
  • 0.75 cup granulated sugar
Egg yolks
  • 5 egg yolks
Vanilla bean or pure vanilla extract
  • 1 vanilla bean split and scraped (or use 2 tsp pure vanilla extract)
Salt
  • 0.25 tsp salt

Equipment

  • 1 sheet pan
  • 1 Dutch oven

Method
 

Infuse the dairy
  1. Split the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds; add the pod and seeds to the heavy cream and whole milk in a saucepan.
  2. Heat over medium heat until steaming and just beginning to simmer, then remove from heat and steep for 15 minutes.
  3. Remove the vanilla pod from the cream mixture and discard it.
Make the vanilla custard
  1. Whisk the egg yolks and granulated sugar together until pale and thick.
  2. Slowly pour the warm cream into the yolks while whisking constantly.
  3. Return the custard to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until thickened to coat the back of a spoon (175F).
Chill and churn
  1. Strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve, then stir in the salt.
  2. Cool the custard over an ice bath until no longer hot.
  3. Refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight, then churn in an ice cream maker and freeze until firm.

Notes

For the smoothest custard, keep the heat medium-low once the yolks are added and stir continuously so it thickens evenly at about 175°F. Store churned ice cream covered in the freezer up to 2 weeks; freeze any extra custard base (after straining) up to 2 months, then thaw in the refrigerator before churning. If you want a dairy-light swap, use half-and-half and reduce the total cooking time slightly while watching for the same “coats the spoon” texture.