America's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated LogoAmerica's Test Kitchen LogoCook's Country LogoCook's Illustrated Logo
Easy No-Churn Ice Cream and Frozen Custard
Recipe
7 hr 35 min

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Frozen Custard

(23)
20 Comments
Loading...
Old-Fashioned Vanilla Frozen Custard
Author: Diane Unger

Recipe By Diane Unger

Published on August 28, 2024

You won’t need to dust off your ice cream maker for our version of this rich, supremely creamy frozen treat.

Time

7 hr 35 min

Yield

Makes about quart

Why This Recipe Works

Creating vanilla frozen custard without an ice cream maker requires a few tricks to churn out a smooth, rich, and creamy dessert. First, we heated a mixture of heavy cream, whole milk, corn syrup (to help prevent crystallization), and vanilla. Then, we slowly poured it over a rich mixture of egg yolks, sugar, and dry milk powder—a process called tempering. This helped guard against any clumping of egg in the final custard. Straining the mixture removed any solid bits of egg. To achieve the smoothest possible frozen custard, we cooled the mixture down and then whipped it in a stand mixer to add air, which prevents crystallization and makes the final product especially creamy.

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks
¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces/50 grams) sugar
2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder
1 cup heavy cream
½ cup whole milk
⅓ cup light corn syrup
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 vanilla bean

Instructions

Cook along with these step-by-step instructions

step 1 imagestep 2 imagestep 3 imagestep 4 image
  1. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and milk powder in bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside. Combine cream, milk, corn syrup, and salt in medium saucepan. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out vanilla seeds and add to cream mixture, along with vanilla bean. Heat cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it steams steadily and registers 175 degrees, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
  2. Slowly whisk heated cream mixture into yolk mixture to temper. Return cream-yolk mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and registers 180 degrees, 4 to 6 minutes.
  3. Immediately pour custard through fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl; discard vanilla bean. Fill slightly larger bowl with ice and set custard bowl in bowl of ice. Transfer to refrigerator and let chill until custard registers 40 degrees, 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  4. Transfer chilled custard to stand mixer fitted with whisk and whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until mixture increases in volume to about 3 ¾ cups. Pour custard into airtight 1-quart container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours, before serving. (Frozen custard is best eaten within 10 days.)

My Rating

Up Next

No-Fuss Banana Ice Cream
Recipe10 hr 30 min

No-Fuss Banana Ice Cream

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Frozen Custard

Recipe By Diane Unger

Published on August 28, 2024

Time

7 hr 35 min

Yield

Makes about quart

Old-Fashioned Vanilla Frozen Custard

Ingredients

6 large egg yolks¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces/50 grams) sugar2 tablespoons nonfat dry milk powder1 cup heavy cream½ cup whole milk⅓ cup light corn syrup⅛ teaspoon salt1 vanilla bean

Instructions

  1. Whisk egg yolks, sugar, and milk powder in bowl until smooth, about 30 seconds; set aside. Combine cream, milk, corn syrup, and salt in medium saucepan. Cut vanilla bean in half lengthwise. Using tip of paring knife, scrape out vanilla seeds and add to cream mixture, along with vanilla bean. Heat cream mixture over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until it steams steadily and registers 175 degrees, about 5 minutes. Remove saucepan from heat.
  2. Slowly whisk heated cream mixture into yolk mixture to temper. Return cream-yolk mixture to saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture thickens and registers 180 degrees, 4 to 6 minutes.
  3. Immediately pour custard through fine-mesh strainer set over large bowl; discard vanilla bean. Fill slightly larger bowl with ice and set custard bowl in bowl of ice. Transfer to refrigerator and let chill until custard registers 40 degrees, 1 to 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
  4. Transfer chilled custard to stand mixer fitted with whisk and whip on medium-high speed for 3 minutes, or until mixture increases in volume to about 3 ¾ cups. Pour custard into airtight 1-quart container. Cover and freeze until firm, at least 6 hours, before serving. (Frozen custard is best eaten within 10 days.)
This is a members' feature.