Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

METHOD:

Bring cream, 8 ounces of sugar, and vanilla beans to a scald in heavy bottom saucepan.

Remove from heat and let steep for 5 minutes then scrape the pulp from the beans into the cream.

Meanwhile, blend yolks with 8 ounces of sugar in a bowl. Do not whip, only stir until blended.

Temper yolks by adding one cup of hot cream to the bowl and stir to equalize temperature, then add the tempered yolks to the pan with the cream and cook over low heat stirring constantly until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon.

Strain through a sieve into a clean bowl over an ice bath and stir to cool. Chill well before putting into the ice cream freezer; can be made one day in advance.

OPTIONS:

Macerate one to one and ½ cups of seasonal fruit with desired amount of sugar, and then add to the cream mixture when cool. Do not use plain cut up fruit or they will freeze into hard chunks and not add any flavor.

Instead of all vanilla beans, use one cup of Mustard Seed Foods Dark Roast coffee beans and steep as directed for coffee ice cream.

Best flavor and texture is achieved by “ripening†the finished ice cream for a couple hours either in the ice cream freezer or in a storage freezer