Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream

I mentioned this ice cream in my last post about the pralines but didn't share the recipe. With the temperatures being reported as north of 100 degrees this weekend, I thought it may be time to share :) 

The recipe can be found in The Sweet Melissa Baking book. Ice cream is a treat that never hangs around long at our house in any form, but this one disappears especially fast. It is hands down the best vanilla ice cream I have ever had, bought, or made, and it will be the only vanilla ice cream recipe that I use from now on. Those are some big claims. Naming anything the "best" is always a little bit dangerous, but if you like ice cream, I promise you'll enjoy this one! My husband, the ice cream connoisseur, says that this may be his favorite ice cream ever. That's saying quite a bit!

The line up of ingredients in this recipe is a little different from most ice creams in that it includes skim milk and dry skim milk powder. Melissa claims that the dry milk absorbs any extra water in the milk and heavy cream thus keeping the ice cream extra creamy. While the milk powder is an ingredient that many people may not keep in their pantry, I promise you'll use it. Make these cookies. And THIS ice cream. Serve them together (ooh, now that's an idea). I've made this both with the vanilla bean and with doubling the vanilla extract when I didn't have a vanilla bean, and it's great both ways. 

You get the picture. Make some ice cream and enjoy it!

(Printable Recipe)

Brown Sugar Vanilla Ice Cream
From The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Ingredients:
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/8 tsp. salt
1/4 cup dry skim milk powder
5 large egg yolks
1/2 vanilla bean, split and scraped, reserving the seeds and pod
1/2 tsp. pure vanilla extract

Fill a large pot with about 3 inches of water and bring to a simmer. Set a large bowl over the top, and check that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water (This is a double broiler set up. If you have a double broiler pan, you could use that too). Remove the bowl and use it to combine the ingredients for the ice cream.

In the large bowl, whisk together the heavy cream, milk, brown sugar, salt, skim milk powder, egg yolks, vanilla bean seeds and pod, and vanilla until completely combined. Place the bowl on top of the simmering pot. Be sure the water is simmering and not boiling. Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture has thickened until nappante (thick enough to coat the back of a spoon), or until the mixture reaches approximately 180-185 degrees F on a candy thermometer. 

Cool the custard in an ice bath (larger bowl filled with ice). Strain the mixture into a resealable container. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. 

After chilling, pour into an ice cream freezer and freeze according to manufacturer's directions. The ice cream will emerge soft-serve consistency. Eat immediately if you prefer or transfer to a resealable container and freeze for at least 4 hours for harder consistency ice cream. 

I am linking this to Sweet Tooth Fridays, Sweets for Saturdays, and Eat at Home Frozen Treats.