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–+ servings

Ice Cream Recipes (Master Recipe + Customization Tips)

Ice cream made the real way: custard-based and churned. Follow the technique and basic recipe but customize the ingredients to your liking.
Prep Time:30 minutes
Cook Time:15 minutes
cooling:12 hours
Total Time:12 hours 45 minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups whole milk
  • 1 ½ cups heavy cream
  • ¾ cup granulated sugar
  • 4 egg yolks
  • pinch salt

Instructions

  • Heat the milk and cream. Heat the milk, cream and ½ cup of sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until warm and steaming, or about 170 degrees.
    milk mixture heating in saucepan.
  • Beat the eggs and remaining sugar. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and remaining ¼ cup of sugar until light yellow in color and well combined. They will noticeably change color when mixed enough. (A hand mixer on low will work well)
    process shot showing color change of egg yolks and sugar
  • Temper the eggs by adding half of the warm milk mixture, a half cup at a time. Then add the egg mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk and cream.
  • Heat the custard. Heat the saucepan, which now contains all of the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs, over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it reaches 185 degrees. The custard is ready when it has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do not boil. Once off the heat, add a pinch of salt, and the vanilla extract, if using.
    pouring custard into saucepan
  • Strain the custard. Hold cheesecloth or a strainer over a bowl to strain the custard. Immediately place the custard into in the refrigerator to chill. Chill for 4-24 hours, until very cold.
    straining custard over glass bowl
  • Freeze ice cream according to manufacturer's instructions. When it has reached the consistency of soft-serve ice cream, add any mix-ins place into a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm. Will keep it well, covered in the freezer for a week.
    ice cream maker churning custard

Notes

Be sure to check your ice cream machine’s instructions before beginning: many have a freezer insert that needs to be frozen at least 24 hours before churning.
No ice cream maker? You actually can still make home-churned ice cream. Place the custard in the freezer and stir for 30 seconds once per hour. It will take a while to set up, but the results will be very similar.
Swirls will do best if you add them to the loaf pan and gently swirl them in by hand. The machine will mix them up too much and flavor the whole batch

Nutrition

Calories: 291kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 21g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 41mg | Potassium: 106mg | Sugar: 21g | Vitamin A: 860IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 93mg | Iron: 1mg
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 291kcal
Author: Katie