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Light blue bowl filled with vanilla ice cream with sprinkles and whipped cream on top.
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French Vanilla Ice Cream

My French Vanilla Ice Cream recipe consists of eggs, heavy cream, sugar, half and half, and luxurious whole vanilla bean. This ice cream takes almost 24 hours to make, but is well worth the wait. Ice cream lovers will rejoice with this delectable homemade vanilla ice cream recipe.
Course Dessert
Cuisine American
Prep Time 45 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Chilling Time 8 hours
Total Time 9 hours
Servings 16
Calories 255kcal
Author Katie

Equipment

  • KitchenAid Stand Mixer
  • KitchenAid Ice Cream Attachment

Ingredients

  • 2-½ cups Half and Half
  • 8 Egg yolks
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 2-½ cups Whipping cream
  • 1 Vanilla bean pod split and inside scraped
  • teaspoon Salt

Instructions

  • In a medium saucepan over medium heat, heat the half and half until very hot but not boiling, stirring often. Remove from heat and set aside.
  • Place egg yolks and sugar in mixer bowl. Using a KitchenAid Mixer fitted with the wire whip. Turn to speed 2, and mix for 30 seconds or until well blended and slightly thickened. Continuing on speed 2, and very gradually add half and half; mix until blended.
  • Return half and half/egg mixture to the medium saucepan; cook over medium heat until small bubbles form around the edge and mixture is steamy. It is important to continue to stir constantly. Do not let the half and half boil.
  • Transfer half-and-half/egg mixture back to the KitchenAid Stand Mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Stir in whipping cream, vanilla, and salt. Cover and let sit to room temperature for one hour. Transfer to a container then chill thoroughly in refrigerator, for at least 8 hours.
  • The next day (or once chilled). Pour the french vanilla ice cream batter into the ice cream maker and churn according to manufactures directions. *I use the KitchenAid Ice Cream Attachment for this recipe and it takes 15-20 minutes, on speed 1.
  • Immediately transfer ice cream into serving dishes, or freeze in airtight container for up to 1 week.

Notes

  • Recipe Yields - This recipe yields 2 quarts or 16 half cup servings.
  • Vanilla Bean Pod - Vanilla bean pods can be on the expensive side. Sometimes you can find them at the grocery store or specialty food store. Or you can order the vanilla bean pod directly from Amazon. If you can't get your hands on an expensive pod, feel free to use 1 tablespoon of vanilla extract. If you are using the vanilla bean pod I like to leave the vanilla bean pod in each of the batter containers while they chill. Slice the pod in half and then remove the pod before churning.
  • Ingredients in Bulk - I like to purchase my eggs, heavy whipping cream, and half and half from a whole sale club. I find the prices are half the price
  • Egg/Dairy Base - Another big tip I can give is that you must make sure your egg/cream mixture not only doesn't boil but cooks long enough to cook the raw egg out of the ice cream… Your mixture will be very bubbly after mixing in the mixer for a minute. Don't think that once it's in the pot and the bubbles are there that its ready… you should keep it on heat for a good 5 to 10 minutes… something Kitchenaid does not tell you in the manual.
  • Ice Cream Attachment - I use the KitchenAid Ice Cream Attachment for this recipe. It takes 15-20 minutes, on speed 1 to churn to a soft ice cream.
  • Planning & Process - I like to make the batter the night before I plan to churn. Churn in the morning and then the ice cream is ready by lunch or dinner time!
  • Ice Cream Storage - I like to use either the Tovolo Glide-A-Scoop Ice Cream Tub (pictured above) or Ice Cream Freezer Storage Containers.
  • Ice Cream Churning - Another thing that the Kitchenaid manual fails to tell you is that you will not instantly have ice cream after churning… it will resemble ice cream soup.
  • Freezing Ice Cream - You will need to freeze the churned ice cream for a few hours before you can really try it, and you'll need to either let it sit out for a good 15-30 minutes prior to scooping since it will be rock hard (or put it in the microwave for 30-60 seconds to soften).

Nutrition

Serving: 0.5c | Calories: 255kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 20g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 163mg | Sodium: 52mg | Potassium: 87mg | Sugar: 13g | Vitamin A: 810IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 76mg | Iron: 1mg