ATK Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Serves 8 (Makes about 1 quart)

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS

At the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course we learned that vanilla is by far the most popular ice cream flavor in America (sorry, chocolate). At the course we attended a vanilla lab, where we tasted vanilla beans from around the world. We were shocked at how different they were from one another. We highly recommend getting your hands on some Tahitian beans, which have a distinct ripe cherry flavor that’s pretty incredible. Here we call for blending the bean with the milk to extract as much flavor as possible.

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

Update, July 2018: After continued testing, we’ve found that we prefer an ice cream that is a little less sweet. Going forward we’ll use a 1/3 cup of sugar (instead of 1/2 cup), which will provide more balanced flavor while still maintaining the ice cream’s smooth texture. Nonfat dry milk powder supplies protein and lactose without added water. The protein helps prevent large ice crystals by binding up water. Lactose is only about 20 percent as sweet as sucrose (granulated sugar), but it depresses the freezing point to the same degree. By using a substantial amount of nonfat dry milk powder, we can make a smooth, creamy, scoopable ice cream without making it too sweet. Mixing the milk powder with the sugar in step 1 helps prevent the milk powder from clumping when it gets wet. We prefer Carnation Instant Nonfat Dry Milk for this recipe. Heavy cream is our primary source of fat. This is a 14 percent fat ice cream mix, one of the most popular formulations for premium commercial ice cream. Corn syrup is about 30 percent as sweet as granulated sugar. It contains fragments of starch chains that increase the viscosity of the mix and help prevent ice crystals from growing larger and coarser during hardening and storage. Cornstarch binds up water, effectively decreasing the amount of freezable water in the mix. It also acts as a stabilizer, helping to slow the rate of ice crystal growth during hardening and storage. Jeni Britton Bauer uses cornstarch (and cream cheese) to great effect in her ice cream base recipe in Jeni’s Splendid Ice Cream’s At Home (2011). If using a canister-style ice cream maker, be sure to freeze the empty canister for at least 24 hours and preferably for 48 hours before churning. For self-refrigerating ice cream makers, prechill the canister by running the machine for 5 to 10 minutes before pouring in the custard. Some ice cream base may stick to the bottom of the saucepan when pouring it into the bowl in step 3; simply scrape it into the bowl with the rest of the base and whisk until smooth. This ice cream can be stored for five days with little loss of quality.

INSTRUCTIONS

○

Place milk and vanilla bean in blender and process on high speed for 1 minute. In small bowl, whisk together milk powder, sugar, and salt. Whisk vanilla milk (do not strain), sugar mixture, cream, and corn syrup together in large saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat until tiny bubbles form around edge of saucepan and mixture registers 190 degrees F/87.8 degrees C, whisking frequently to dissolve sugar and break up any clumps, about 5 to 7 minutes.

○

Meanwhile, whisk remaining milk and cornstarch together in small bowl.

○

Reduce heat to medium. Whisk cornstarch mixture to recombine, then whisk into milk mixture in saucepan. Cook, constantly scraping bottom of saucepan with rubber spatula, until mixture thickens, about 30 seconds. Immediately pour ice cream base through fine-mesh strainer into large bowl; let cool until no longer steaming, about 20 minutes. Cover bowl, transfer to refrigerator, and chill to 40 degrees F/ 4.4 degrees C, at least 6 or up to 8 hours. (Base can be chilled overnight. Alternatively, base can be chilled in about 90 minutes by placing it over ice bath of 6 cups ice, ½ cup water, and ⅓ cup salt.)

○

Churn base in ice cream maker until mixture resembles thick soft-serve ice cream and registers 21 degrees F/-6.1 degrees C. Transfer to airtight container, cover, transfer to freezer, and freeze until hard, at least 2 hours or up to 8 hours.