Part Time Chef

Eggless Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe - Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

 

I am yet to come across someone who doesn't love ice creams. It is usually the ideal dessert for any occasion. Be it birthdays, weddings are a casual dinner party or in my case .. weekend.

Vanilla ice cream, being the most versatile. You could dress it up in numerous ways. Chocolate sauce, caramel sauce, fruit sauce, cookies, fruits .. I could go on and on.

I was tempted to try making it at home. After a bit of research, I decided to try David Lebowitz`s  recipe from his famous book `Perfect Scoop`.  By the way it has a great collection of ice cream and sorbet recipes. The vanilla ice cream recipe calls for egg yolks. Mostly all vanilla ice cream recipes have egg in them. This ensures a richer and creamier texture.
I decided to try an eggless version of it by substituting eggs for custard powder. I tweaked the recipe a bit. Also I dont own an ice cream maker. So to ensure a creamy texture, I had to get the mixture out of the freezer every hour for about 4 times and churn it and put it back again. This is needed to prevent the ice crystals getting formed.

It turned out fabulous! Everyone at my home had second and third servings. It was wiped off in minutes!

Eggless Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe

Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

Yeild: About  1 litre

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
2 vanilla beans, split lengthwise **
1 cup (250ml) heavy cream or double cream (40-50% fat) *
1 cup (250ml) light cream *
3 tablespoons custard powder
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract


1. Heat the milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Do not boil. Scrape the seeds of the vanilla beans and add it to the milk. Cover and infuse for 1 hour. This is to ensure that the vanilla flavor is absorbed in the milk.
2. Prepare an ice bath with ice cubes and iced water in a large tray or shallow dish. Keep aside.
3. Add the custard powder to the milk vanilla mixture and heat on medium/low flame stirring continuously. Ensure no lumps are formed. Do this till the mixture turns slightly thick or it coats the back of a spoon.
4. Place the pan with the custard mixture in the ice bath. Take care that no water spills into the custard mixture. This is the fastest way to cool down the custard mixture.
5. Stir in the light and heavy cream into the custard mixture until well blended.
6. Add the vanilla extract and blend. Do not over mix.
7. Once mixture cools down. Takes about 10-15 minutes, Place the mixture in a freezer friendly box or container and freeze for an hour.
8. If you do not own an ice cream maker like me an hour later, churn the mixture for about 5 minutes to break down any freezing that might have begun. Do this every hour for 4 to 5 times before freezing for 8 hours or overnight. This breaks down the ice crystals and gives the ice cream a creamy texture. It might seem like a bit of work but believe me it makes a huge difference to the texture.
If you own an ice cream maker, it is surely easier and just freeze as per manufacturers instructions.
9. Take out the ice cream 15 minutes before serving to soften the ice cream a bit and you get a perfect scoop! Enjoy with chocolate or caramel sauce, fruits or crushed cookies. It tastes just as good on its own too.

Notes
* For a less-rich(fewer calories) version, substitute the heavy cream with light cream, realizing that the final texture won’t be as rich or as smooth as if using heavy cream.

** You can subsitute the vanilla bean with pure vanilla extract too. If you do so, you can skip the infusion for 1 hour mentioned in step 1 above.

Sending this to Veg Nation for Kids Delight - Desserts event and Cook like a Celebrity Chef event by Food Corner.