French Vanilla Ice Cream

It’s Thanksgiving which means pies, pies, pies. If you want to make you’re a la mode really special, you can make the vanilla ice cream yourself. I have an ice cream maker with a compressor unit, but I have also had luck with the freezer bowl machine as well (such as Kitchen Aid). The secret ingredient is the rum which prevents the ice cream from freezing solid.

I never liked vanilla ice cream until I made it for myself with a real vanilla bean. Holy moly- what an immense difference. Pure creaminess, no icy texture at all, and rich, floral vanilla flavor singing through…. I can’t eat storebought vanilla ice cream any more. This recipe has ruined it for me. My only substitute when I can’t make this myself is to go to a local ice cream shop and buy myself a half gallon of their French vanilla to tide me over.

Make this at your own risk….

Ingredients:

7 egg yolks

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2 1/2 cups milk

½ cup heavy cream

1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste, or 1 vanilla bean

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon rum

Method:

In a large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, sugar and salt until light a fluffy.

Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the milk, cream and vanilla bean paste (or bean pod and scraped beans) until simmering.

Ladle about a half cup of the hot cream mixture into the eggs to temper them, and then add the eggs back into the hot cream in the saucepan.

Cook the mixture for about 10 minutes, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens. Pour it through a fine mesh sieve. Pour into a container and press plastic wrap right on top of it to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate overnight.

Process the mixture in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

Serve it right away as soft serve or freeze it for a further four hours to firm it up more. Enjoy!

Comments

Raspberry Pomegranate Jam

Tis the season to be making homemade gifts! Pomegranates are in season and their juice is a festive deep ruby red color. I knew I had to make them into a jam to give away. Straight pomegranate flavor is a little tart for me; I added raspberries for the texture of their seeds and their sweetness. This is a very simple recipe to make and will yield 6 to 7 8 ounces jars of jam or 12 to 14 4 ounce jars, if you like to give away sample sizes during the holidays. Enjoy! Ingredients: 3 1/2 cups pomegranate juice 1 cup mashed raspberries 7 cups sugar 1 tablespoon butter 1 1/75 ounce package Sure Jell Method: Sterilize your jars and lids. Set aside. In a heavy bottomed large stock pot, add the pomegranate juice, raspberries and butter. Mix well. Add in the sugar. Bring to a full rolling boil then stir in the Sure Jell. Allow to boil hard for 1 minutes. Remove from the heat and skim off any foam. Ladle into the sterile jars, twist on the lids and pr

Peek-a-boo Squares

My grandma, Mimi, taught me this recipe. I used to make this with her and my mother as a child. It is my very favorite dessert. It is incredibly easy to make, and even easier to eat. My favorite part of making this as a child was dusting every bar generously with snowy white powdered sugar. My favorite version of this dessert uses canned blueberry pie filling; I vastly prefer Libby brand over the store brand. You can make blueberry pie filling from scratch with sugar, cornstarch, bleberries, etc. but using the canned stuff is easy in a pinch and is much for nostalgic for me. Plus, I don’t notice a vast improvement over my homemade blueberry pie filling and the Libby brand; it just takes me longer to put this dessert together. I have been known to whip up a pan of these Friday night and have them disappear by Saturday afternoon. Be warned, these things are addictive! Ingredients: 3 cups of all-purpose flour 2 cups of granulated sugar 4 eggs 2 sticks of

Samosas with Yogurt Sauce

I love exploring many kinds of cuisine in my kitchen because I can control the spice level, and in the case of this recipe, the use of cilantro. Cilantro lovers out there- sub it info the parsley here. I have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap, which limits my ability to enjoy some dishes in restaurants, but is easily rectified in my own kitchen. I hope you enjoy! Ingredients: 3 russet potatoes 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 bunch fresh parsley, chopped 2 teaspoons curry powder 5 ounces peas Six 8 inch flour tortillas 4 ounces Greek yogurt Oil, salt, pepper, vinegar 4 tablespoons butter Method: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Lightly oil a rimmed baking sheet. Scrub potatoes and cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces. Place in a large saucepan with a generous pinch of salt and enough water to cover by 1 inch. Cover and bring to a boil over high; uncover and cook until tenderDrain potatoes and transfer to a bowl. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in reserved saucepan over medium. Add chopped garlic and al

Watership Down Kitchen

Search This Blog