Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Vanilla Ice Cream

After seeing the Daring Bakers make ice cream, I simply had to try my hand at it. It took a lot of research, and lots of running around and lots went wrong. But the ice cream was amazing. And it's all due to David Lebovitz! He's a genius :)

I changed his recipe around quite a bit. I tried not to, but I had to. We don't get vanilla beans here and so I had to substitute more vanilla extract. And we don't get heavy cream either (I just couldn't believe that!), and so I went with regular cream.

I also don't have an ice cream machine, and had to use DL's method for making ice cream by regular old churning. He said in his post that it should probably take 2-3 hours, but I first put it in the freezer at 7 pm and I did the last churn at 3 am! And I couldn't go to sleep because all my effort would have gone to waste.


Everything was worth it. Some fantastic vanilla ice cream (couldn't call it "plain, ol' vanilla", because it just ain't so)

Vanilla Ice Cream
(slightly altered from David Lebovitz's recipe)

1 cup Milk (I had to use part-skim!)
A pinch of Salt
3/4 cup Sugar
1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract
2 cups Cream
5 Egg Yolks

Heat the milk, vanilla, salt and sugar together.


In a separate bowl, whisk together the yolks. Gradually pour the milk mixture into the yolks, whisking constantly.


Pour the milk mixture back into the pan. On low heat, keep stirring while it thickens.

Meanwhile set up a large bowl with a 50-50 mixture of ice cubes and iced water. Set a smaller bowl into the large bowl. Empty the cream into the smaller bowl and let it chill. Set a small holed strainer over the smaller bowl.


The milk mixture will slowly begin to thick. Continue stirring until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. A good test would be to run your finger over the coating on the spoon - it should leave a mark without running.


Immediately pour the mixture through the strainer into the smaller bowl containing the cream. Keep stirring until the entire mixture cools down and is chilled.

When cold, pour the mixture into a large (shallow is good) plastic container. Put it in the freezer.

Now starts the not so fun part. Every 45 minutes to an hour, take the container out and give it a good churn with a metal spoon or even a hand-held mixer or stick blender (those make it all easier). Make sure to break up all the frozen parts from the edges in. The better you blend everything, the less icy the end result.

Keep churning until the entire thing is frozen. This took me a good 7-8 hours! But that could also be my freezer. Hopefully yours will freeze up sooner! Good Luck!

But don't you see how fantastic that looks? It's all worth it. Really, it is!

42 comments:

Ranjani said...

Danggg Ice cream from scratch?!!! that's phenomenal:) Looks completely professional too...can't believe it was your first attempt! You must have a LOT of patience:))

Aparna Balasubramanian said...

Looks gorgeous. DL's ice-cream is really the perfect scoop!!!

Poornima Nair said...

Looks yumm...

Finla said...

I totally agree he is a genius.
Ice cream looks so perfect and so yummy.
If you ever go to Munnar in Kerala , you will get lots of Vanilla beans there.
I bought some 75 sticks from there and it was really cheap especially if i compare the price i guve here.

Chutneytales said...

Wow..Simply awesome.I have never believed that ice creams can be made at home until seeing yours :)

Unknown said...

Homemade Icecream from scratch..Just Amazing!!

bee said...

you get fantastic inexpensive whole vanilla beans in places like wyanad, kerala. 10 rs. each or something. try to get hold of some. i've shied away from buying an ice cream machine. would love to try this.

Trupti said...

Homemade ice -cream looks very mouthwatering

SJ said...

Wow! You stayed up till 3am to churn the cream!!! No wonder it looks so good!

Anonymous said...

Hi Arundathi-

Thanks so much for passing along this ice cream recipe. It looks absolutely ravishing, I'm am defiantly going to give this one a try... Although I'll have to wait till the weekend to make sure I have enough free time to do it properly. Thank you again

Sandy!

A_and_N said...

I've not bought an ice cream for this reason alone. I'd be making ice cream EVERY day. And that is the last thing I want. No, make that need. :(

It looks so professional, Arundathi!

Manju said...

looks nice and creamy! i can never get my icecream this creamier! :(

Rachel said...

Perfect scoop of icecream.

You do get vanilla beans...I could get them for you the next time you want some.

jayasree said...

Looks so professional. Got the perfect scoop. I have been drooling over DL's icecreams, but never got around making it. Kudos to your patience.

Bharti said...

That looks like a perfect scoop of ice cream! Very nice.

TBC said...

OMG! I cannot believe that you managed to make it look so fabulous even without an ice cream maker!
And you stayed up till 3:00 a.m. to make it! Fantastic results though...well worth all the trouble taken.:D

Raaga said...

This is very similar to my mother's age old recipe. Yours looks so professional. I haven't really tried making ice cream at home except for kulfi.

:-)

Sorry about yesterday, my computer was acting very funny.

http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2008/07/mango-kulfi.html

http://chefatwork.blogspot.com/2009/03/strawberry-kulfi.html

Arundathi said...


Thanks so much everyone!!!

Ranjani - Yup, I tell you, I've discovered that when it comes to cooking, I seem to have tons of patience. Can't say the same for other aspects of my life!!

Aparna - His ice cream rocks. Got to find out if I can find his book here.

Poornima Nair - Thanks

Happy Cook - Oh thanks a lot - didn't know about that!

Madhumathi - Thanks!

Divya Vikram - thanks a lot!

Bee - Didn't know that they were available in Kerala. Going to try and source it now. I too don't think I can ever own an ice cream machine - that would be just plain scary! I'd never be able to leave the apartment!

Trupti - Thanks

SJ - Yeah, tons of patience and a good book to read!

Sandy Waters - Thanks for stopping by. Yes, please wait for when you have lots of time on your hands - it helps!

A & N - Thanks a lot. Yup - even without a machine, life is tough. With a machine, I'd probably be imagining up sorrows that I need to drown!! lol!

Superchef - Hmm might be just the churning. Have you tried a stick blender? I made this by hand and a very strong metal spoon, but a blender would have really helped.

Rachel - Oh thanks - where can you get them in Chennai?

Jayasree - I have to go buy his book - after that one ice cream, i'm sure they're all great.

Bharti - Thanks!

TBC - Yes it was truly worth the effort. And let me tell you there's very few things for which I'm willing to stay up till 3 am!! lol!

Raaga - Thanks - gonna go check out the recipes. I love kulfi!

Chitra said...

slurp....iam drooling here..i luv vanilla icecream..i've tried pista...urs looking perfect and its really a fantastic icecream!!

Shama Nagarajan said...

vanilla ice cream will be my first choice .........am drooling here

Anonymous said...

Fantastic ice cream, perfect to shoo away the summer blues here :-)

Priya Suresh said...

Grogeous, prefect for summer...amazing work Arundhathi...

Anonymous said...

Wow....looks fantastic. Bookmarked it!

ICook4Fun said...

Thanks for stopping by at my blog and your kind comment. Your blog is great and I need some time to go through it :)Can't wait to try out some of the recipes here.

Arundathi said...


Chithra - I love pista kulfi - yum! Thanks!

Shama Nagarajan - Yes, its always my first choice too!

Alka - Absolutely - Chennai's getting too too hot!

Priya - Thanks!

Homecooked - :) Hope you enjoy it!

iCook4Fun - Sure, anytime - love your blog. I hope you enjoy the blog

Mandira said...

i like this ice cream.. i doesnt have any chemicals at all! most ice creams do.. and that wat i dont like about them..thumbs up to this recipe..

Jamie said...

What a process! Good for you Arundathi for the amazing looking ice cream. I bet this was a huge hit in your house!

Red Chillies said...

I have heard so much DL's method and I need try it sometime. I have never ventured into making ice-cream. Churning at 3:00 AM, now that is commendable.

delhibelle said...

ice cream without the machine, now we're talking.It's beautiful! thanks for sharing this recipe

American Homemaker said...

So yummy! I've had some late night cooking projects like that before... LOL

Anonymous said...

wow, that looks so perfect, good job!

Arundathi said...


Churning The Word Mill - Most homemade recipes don't use chemicals - try it out!

Jamie - Nice to see you here! Thanks so much!

Red Chillies - Thanks - yeah, lots of patience!

Delhibelle - you're welcome. i do hope you try it.

The American Homemaker - LOL - I think you know you've found something you love to do when you stay up till 3 am doing it!

Mona - Thanks!

Srivalli said...

Anu thats fab one..looks yummy!..where have you been so many msgs no reply..

Lisa Turner said...

Oh, I'm so glad your ice cream worked out! Vanilla is my favorite. Worth staying up for sure.

Usha said...

Your ice cream looks wonderful and perfect !

Arundathi said...


Srivalli - msgs? I didnt get any - will get in touch with you!

Lisa - Thanks - now I'm ready to try more interesting flavors

Usha - Thanks so much!

Susan @ SGCC said...

There is nothing ordinary about a good vanilla ice cream. It's my favorite! Well done!

Suparna said...

hi,
What a perfect looking drool worthy scoops...yummm I haven't made ice-creams at home, must give this a try. Thanks for the recipe.
TC

Arundathi said...


SGCC - My favorite too! Thank you!

Suparna - You're welcome!

Anonymous said...

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(Submitted from TF3 for R4i Nintendo DS.)

ratu said...

mmmm....I try it!!

ruee said...

i'll try it!
i like this post.