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–+ servings
close up view of off white ice cream
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5 from 1 vote

Honey Ice Cream

Sweetened with pure honey, this ice cream has plenty of creamy vanilla flavor.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
cooling12 hours
Total Time12 hours 45 minutes
Course: Dessert
Cuisine: American, Southern
Keyword: old fashioned vanilla ice cream, vanilla ice cream recipe with eggs
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 291kcal
Author: Katie

Equipment

Ingredients

  • 1½ cups whole milk
  • 1½ cups heavy cream divided
  • ½ cup honey clover or wildflower
  • 4 egg yolks
  • 2 vanilla beans
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
  • ¼ teaspoon salt

Instructions

  • Heat the milk and cream. Heat the milk, 1¼ cup of the cream, and all the honey in a saucepan over medium heat, until warm and steaming, or about 170 degrees. You'll have just a small amount of cream left to beat with the eggs.
    pan of warm milk and cream
  • Beat the eggs and remaining heavy cream. Meanwhile, beat the egg yolks and remaining cream until light yellow in color and well combined. They will noticeably change color when mixed enough. (A hand mixer on low will work well.)
    eggs and cream beaten until frothy
  • 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.
    adding eggs in to temper
  • Heat the custard. Heat the saucepan, which now contains all of the milk, cream, honey, 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. Take off the heat when it reaches temperature.
  • Strain the custard and add the vanilla and salt. Hold cheesecloth or a strainer over a bowl to strain the custard. Add the vanilla bean and vanilla extract along with the salt and stir to combine. Immediately place the custard into in the refrigerator to chill. Chill for 4-24 hours, until very cold.
    stainer set over bowl with vanilla beans inside
  • Freeze ice cream according to the manufacturer's instructions. When it has reached the consistency of soft serve ice cream, place into a loaf pan, cover with plastic wrap, and freeze until firm, at least 3 hours.
    ice cream machine churning liquid

Notes

If you are using a stronger flavored honey, I'd recommend using 1/4 cup of honey and 1/4 cup granulated sugar unless you love an intense honey flavor.  Add the sugar (rather than cream) to the eggs in step 2 but otherwise make the ice cream exactly the same.
Your ice cream will freeze solid but not super hard.  It's scoopable but melts quickly. 
If you don't have a vanilla bean, add an additional 2 teaspoons of vanilla.

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