American · Desserts

Vanilla bean ice cream

Name: Vanilla bean ice cream
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 7 h 37 min
Yield: 1 quart
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 2 cups (480 grams) heavy cream; 1 cup (240 grams) whole milk; 3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, divided; 1 vanilla bean; 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt; 5 large egg yolks; 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Silky churned custard ice cream with fragrant vanilla bean, clean dairy flavor, and slow melt.

About 7 hr 40 minTotal

About 40 minActive

$$Cost

AdvancedDifficulty

Makes 1 quart

Equipment

Another 1.5-quart machine works; follow its freezing and maximum-fill guidance.
Best first ice-cream machine
Cuisinart 1.5-Quart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker · ICE-21P1
View at Amazon
Another workable path: Another 1.5-quart machine works; follow its freezing and maximum-fill guidance.
Paid links. As an Amazon Associate, Kwilt earns from qualifying purchases.
How we chose
Research-backed · reviewed Aug 2026
We matched batch capacity, freezer-bowl requirements, churn design, model ICE-21P1 identity, warranty, storage burden, and the exact Amazon destination. Kwilt has not churned with this machine.
Cuisinart 1.5-Quart Frozen Yogurt, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker · ICE-21P1: Its 1.5-quart capacity fits the vanilla custard yield and the simple frozen-bowl design provides dependable churning without the cost or footprint of a compressor machine. Trade-off: The bowl must freeze solid in advance and occupies freezer space; it cannot churn consecutive batches without refreezing for roughly a full day.
Another workable path: Use another ice-cream machine rated for at least 1.5 quarts and follow its bowl-freezing and maximum-fill guidance; no-churn is not an equal substitute here.
Sources
Cuisinart ICE-21P1 specifications
Amazon exact product listing

Ingredients

1× recipe · Makes 1 quart

2 cups (480 grams) heavy cream
1 cup (240 grams) whole milk
3/4 cup (150 grams) granulated sugar, divided
1 vanilla bean
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Freeze the as its manufacturer requires. Combine cream, milk, half the sugar, salt, and the split scraped vanilla bean plus pod in a saucepan. Heat until steaming, remove from heat, cover, and steep 20 minutes.
Whisk yolks with remaining sugar. Rewarm dairy, then slowly whisk half into yolks. Return all to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a spatula, until it coats the spatula and reaches 170–175°F; never boil.
Strain immediately into a bowl set over ice, stir in vanilla extract, and cool below 50°F. Cover and refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight. Combining bean and extract gives both floral complexity and the familiar vanilla aroma.
Churn in the machine according to its instructions until soft-serve consistency, usually 20 to 30 minutes. Transfer to a shallow airtight container, press parchment on the surface, and freeze at least 3 hours until scoopable.
Let stand at room temperature 5 to 10 minutes before scooping. Keep the freezer cold and return the container promptly; repeated melting and refreezing creates large ice crystals.

United StatesAmerican baking and dessert traditions

From the table

About this recipe

French-style custard ice cream became a foundation of American ice-cream making; vanilla exposes its balance most clearly because dairy texture, yolk emulsification, and true vanilla aroma have nowhere to hide.

Vanilla is the test of a plain ice cream base because texture and dairy balance are fully exposed. A French-style egg-yolk custard emulsifies fat and water for silkiness, while both vanilla bean and extract provide layered but recognizable flavor. An ice cream machine is required and disclosed; the method is otherwise one saucepan, an ice bath, chilling, and churning. This Kwilt version follows the reviewed household adaptation: Use the critic-endorsed dual-vanilla custard architecture, add exact safety and chilling checkpoints, and disclose the machine dependency rather than offering a lower-quality no-churn substitute under the same name.

Sources

Dinner does not stop at the recipe