How To Make Vanilla Ice Cream at Home?

We all like to eat ice creams in summers, and hence ice creams are synonymous with summers. Vanilla ice cream is everyone’s favorite and can be called the king of ice cream flavors. 

Here in this vanilla ice cream recipe, you will find the step-by-step process of making delicious, creamy, soft, and eggless vanilla ice cream. In vanilla ice cream making, vanilla takes center stage and for this, you can use a vanilla bean or pure vanilla extract for heavenly taste and aroma.

Recipe

• Preparation time: 15 mins
• Cooking time: 15 mins
• Chilling time: 4 hours
• Total time: 4 hours 30 mins
• Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups of full cream milk or whole milk
• 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch
• 3 teaspoons of vanilla extract or 1-2 vanilla beans
• ½ cup icing/brown/normal sugar 
• 2-4 tablespoons of condensed milk
• ¾ cup or 200 ml chilled fresh cream (low fat 25-35%) or whipping cream

Preparing Custard Sauce

• In a small bowl, take 1.5 tablespoons of cornstarch and add 2 tablespoons of milk to it. Mix it properly to make a smooth paste.
• In a saucepan, take 1.5 cups of full cream milk or whole milk and add ½ cup sugar to it.
• Keep this on flame and keep stirring so that the sugar dissolves completely.
• When the milk boils, slowly add the smooth cornstarch paste to it.
• Keep stirring the milk to avoid the formation of lumps.
• Sim the flame to medium, and let the milk thicken.
• To check the consistency of custard sauce, check if it coats the back of a spoon.
• Now add 2-4 tablespoons of condensed milk to this to add flavor and subside the taste of cornstarch.
• Take the custard sauce in a bowl and allow it to cool down to room temperature. Then refrigerate it for 45 minutes to 2 hours.
• Now remove the custard sauce from the fridge and use an electric beater or stand mixture  to beat the custard sauce on a medium to high speed for 2-3 minutes till it lightens up and increases in volume.

Whipping Fresh Cream

• Take another bowl, add about ¾ cup chilled fresh cream. We can also use heavy whipping cream or 25% to 35% low-fat cream.
• Use an electric beater or whisk and begin to whip the cream at medium to high speed. Whip till soft peaks are formed. If you have an ice cream maker, you can use that for better texture.
• Add 3 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1 or 2 vanilla beans to whipped cream with soft peaks.
• When the cream is whipped nicely it will not fall when you turn the bowl down.

Folding of Vanilla Ice Cream

• Now add beaten thickened custard sauce to the vanilla whipped cream and make a thick mixture.
• Fold with light hands carefully that the ice cream mixture retains its volume and does not fall flat.
• Keep the mixture in an airtight container or cover the container with cling wrap. Keep in the freezer.
• After 4-5 hours when the ice cream is semi-set, remove and whip it very well in the same bowl. Cover it again and keep the ice cream container in the freezer to set.
• When well set, take the vanilla ice cream out of the freezer, scoop, and serve in bowls or cones. 

Serving Suggestions

• You can serve vanilla ice cream plain, else top it with syrup or fruits of your choice.
• You can also drizzle some chocolate chips or rainbow sprinkles while serving.

Health Benefits

Vanilla ice cream is a good source of Calcium, Protein, and Carbohydrates as it is prepared from full-fat milk. Healthier versions of this ice cream can be made like sugar-free or low-fat ice cream by using sugar substitutes or low-fat milk and low-fat cream.

Tips and Tricks

• Thoroughly beating the custard sauce after the semi-set condition ensures a rich and silky smooth texture.
• Better to use “pure” vanilla extract as vanilla flavorings often leave a bitter aftertaste.
• To avoid crystallization use an airtight container for freezing or cover your container with cling film.
• Use shallow flat base containers for freezing ice creams which promotes the smooth consistency of ice cream.
• When serving to get perfect scoops, wet your scooper in hot water. It helps to scoop ice cream easily. 

Vanilla ice cream is generally served plain or it can be topped with choco chips, strawberry or chocolate, or caramel sauce. Nothing can beat this frosty scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream pulled right from your freezer onto waffle cones.