Rami's Recipe Book

Ice Cream Base

—

by

panda
in ,

Ice cream flavors based on this recipe here.

Ingredients

  • 1 1/2c milk
  • 1 1/2c cream
  • 140g sugar (about 2/3c)
  • 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
  • 6 egg yolks (100g)
  • Dash of salt

Instructions

  1. Beat the eggs and sugar together.
  2. STEEP PHASE: Heat the cream and milk to around 175.
  3. Temper the eggs by adding half the hot liquid into the eggs, stirring constantly.
  4. Pour the eggs and cream back into the pot and heat to 180, stirring frequently, especially as you approach 180.  Eggs curdle at 185, so keep them below this temp.  If the mixture boils or even simmers you’ll have scrambled egg ice cream.  Acid decreases the temperature for coagulation, so be sure to rinse any bowls or utensils of acidic add-ins (lemon, rhubarb, etc.) or you may be caught off guard and over-thicken/overcook!
  5. Once the eggs are at 180, they will have thickened a bit; classically described as leaving a line on the back of a wooden spoon when you draw a finger across it.  Be careful not to try to get the consistency too thick – it’s easy to overheat and ruin the custard.  It will also thicken as it cools.
  6. Allow to cool and refrigerate for 3+ hours.
  7. ADD-IN PHASE: Remove from fridge and add the vanilla and salt.*
  8. Add to ice cream maker and churn until soft serve consistency.
  9. Place in freezer for at least 3 hours.

NOTES:

A traditional “French-style” ice cream is based on Creme Anglaise, which is a ratio of 4 parts milk/cream : 1 part yolk : 1 part sugar.  “American” ice cream tends to have fewer or no eggs at all, and “frozen custard” increases the egg ratio.  I’ve arrived at the above recipe as my preference, but the point is this is quite flexible, and you can try the other styles by changing the milk/cream ratio or the number of eggs without needing to alter anything else.

*Although most recipes add the vanilla during the heating process, I recommend adding the vanilla just before churning.  This retains a much stronger vanilla flavor.  (If you have a vanilla bean you steep in the heated cream to extract the flavor.  This might be where the original intention came from.)