Homemade Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Update: More pictures here

I've made lots of ice cream in my time.  (And eaten lots of it too, naturally.)  But whenever I saw a recipe for the custard-based kind, where you have to add egg yolks and cook it on the stove first, I just thought it probably wasn't worth the trouble.  I think I'd never tasted any of that kind (not homemade, anyway).

But recently I saw some recipes online that caught my eye, and finding myself possessed of some vanilla beans [I'd never used a vanilla bean before; have you?  They're cool.], I decided I might as well try the whole custard technique, just so I could know what it tasted like.  Well---it was AMAZING.  It seems sort of silly for me to sit here and rave about it, since if you're like me you've either already made up your mind that it can't be that great, or else you never make ice cream at all, or you've sworn off desserts, or whatever, but, I'm going to anyway.  If you're thinking of making any kind of ice cream, just try this kind first.  It is so good, and it is worth it.  WE LOVE IT.  We have made it several times now (and modified, in several other flavors---I'll try to post them soon) and it has been just unbelieveably good in every incarnation: with brownies, with lemon curd, with oatmeal fudge bars, with berry pie.  ("You eat a lot of desserts!" you are thinking.  "You are correct," I reply, smugly.) 

By the way (side note), I was so pleased today when I asked Seb if he was done with lunch and he replied, "Yep, I'm full and happy."  I want my kids to have healthy attitudes about food: try lots of things---stop when they're full---and most importantly ENJOY GOOD FOOD.  So I am glad when he shows he is learning those things, by being "full and happy" after meals. 

Okay.  Here is the recipe.  It's from the Pioneer Woman, so of course if you want lovely pictures to accompany your instructions, go here.

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

3 cups half-and-half

2 cups sugar

8 large egg yolks

3 cups heavy cream

Heat half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a separate saucepan over low heat, adding vanilla “caviar” to the mixture. (You can also drop in the scraped vanilla bean, just to extract all the flavor. Discard before moving to the next step.) Turn off heat when mixture is totally heated.

Add heavy cream to a separate bowl.

Beat egg yolks by hand or with an electric mixer until yolks are pale yellow and slightly thick.

Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling in 1 1/2 cups of hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly. After that, pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture into the pan containing the rest of the half-and-half mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat until quite thick, stirring constantly. Strain custard through a fine mesh strainer into a bowl (to get any bits of egg or vanilla bean rind out), then pour into custard the bowl with the cream. Stir to combine.

Chill mixture completely (2 hours or overnight), then freeze in an ice cream maker until thick. Place container in freezer to harden for at least eight hours.