Learn how to make the best silky French Vanilla Ice Cream at home! You will need only 6 simple ingredients to make a luscious custard, churning it in an Ice Cream Maker for a classic Summer dessert!
If you never made homemade ice cream before, you definitely should! It tastes so much better that a store bought!
You will only need 6 simple ingredients, 30 minutes of your time, and you will have the best dessert to enjoy!
Philadelphia vs. French style
There are two most popular styles: Philadelphia and French.
French style is made with a classic egg yolk custard that provides the iconic yellow tint. That helps the dessert to have much creamier texture and rich flavor.
Philadelphia style, on the other hand, is made without custard. It’s based on simply mixing cream, milk, sugar, and vanilla bean or extract.
Despite the French version requiring a few additional steps, it’s totally worth the effort!
Why this recipe works
There are two things that make this recipe work the best: making custard and churning the ice cream.
The custard provides the richness to this dessert thanks to the eggs that you beat, temper, and cook. It allows all the flavors to melt together.
Churning is another important step. It combines mixing and freezing process without crystallizing the ingredients. In addition, it incorporates air into the mixing, which results in a light and delicate consistency.
How to make it at home
Freeze the bowl.
Before we start making the dessert, we need to make sure that the ice cream bowl for the machine is completely frozen. I like to put it in the freezer the night before I plan to make the dessert.
Warm the milk and heavy cream.
Pour the milk and heavy cream in a sauce pan. Cut a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds. Put the seeds and the been to the milk mixture, together with a pinch of salt (Photos 1-4).
Bring the mixture to simmer over the medium heat (It will take about 10 minutes).
Whisk the yolks and sugar.
While the milk mixture is warming up, we can work on the egg yolks.
Put the egg yolks and sugar in a mixing bowl and beat them very well. Mix them for a few minutes, until it becomes pale in color and will have a smooth and airy texture (Photos 5-8).
Temper the eggs.
When the milk mixture is starting to simmer and the egg yolks are whisked, we can start tempering.
Using a ladle, slowly and gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the egg/sugar mixture, while constantly whisking the egg yolks (Photo 9).
After you add a couple of ladles of hot liquid to the beaten eggs, and they are warmed up, you can add the rest of the milk mixture to the bowl and mix very well (Photo 10).
NOTE: Tempering the egg yolks is very important step, as it will prevent them from curdling. When done correctly, you shouldn’t have any curdling or cooked pieces of eggs in the mixture.
Cook the base mixture.
Pour the tempered mixture back to the saucepan and put it on a low heat. Cook it for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture start to thicken and the internal temperature reaches 170-175°F (Photos 11-12).
Strain the base mixture.
Pour the mixture to a clean mixing bowl through a fine-mesh strainer. That will help to remove any cooked egg pieces and the vanilla bean.
Cool.
Let the mixture cool on the counter for 30-40 minutes. Then cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until it’s completely cold.
Churn.
Churn the ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions.
Freeze.
When done, transfer it to an air tight container and freeze overnight before serving.
Tips for best results
Ice Cream Bowl. Make sure that your bowl is completely frozen. I like to freeze it overnight or 24 hours before making the recipe.
Temper the eggs. Tempering the egg yolks is very important step, as it will prevent them from curdling. When done correctly, you should have a smooth mixture that will make a great creamy dessert.
Straining. After you cook the ice cream base, I always like to strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer. This extra step will ensure that you don’t have any cooked pieces of eggs or vanilla bean in your dessert.
Fresh Ingredients. Make sure to use fresh eggs, milk, and heavy cream in this recipe to achieve the best results.
Options and Substitutions
Vanilla. I prefer to use a vanilla bean in this recipe for more flavor. If you don’t have it, you can use a regular vanilla extract.
Dairy. This recipe is made with whole milk and dairy heavy cream. I would not suggest using plant based or skim milk.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS?
How to store? The best way to store it is to put it in an air tight container and place in the freezer. That will prevent the crystallization.
Is it safe to use eggs? Yes. Because we temper the egg yolks and cook them to reach 170-175°F, it is absolutely safe to eat them.
Why temper the eggs? If you would add hot cream to the eggs, they will simply curdle and cook. When you temper, you slowly and gradually add the hot liquid to the beaten egg yolks, while continuing whisking. This way, the egg mixture will be able to slowly warm up without being cooked.
What does churning do? When you churn, you mix the ingredients while freezing them at the same time. This technique helps to break down the crystals and keep them small. That directly affects the texture, keeping it smooth and creamy.
Desserts I love to serve it with:
Did you make this recipe?!? I’d love to know how it turned out! leave a comment and a rating below👇 thank you!
French Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups whole milk
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla extract
- â…› teaspoon salt
- 4 large egg yolks
- â…” cup granulated sugar
Instructions
Freeze the bowl.
- Before we start making the ice cream, we need to make sure that the ice cream bowl for the machine is completely frozen. Put it in the freezer the night before you plan to make the dessert.
Warm the milk and heavy cream.
- Pour the 1 ½ cups milk and 1 ½ cups heavy cream in a sauce pan. Cut a vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds. Put the seeds and the bean to the milk mixture, together with a pinch of salt.
- Bring the mixture to simmer over the medium heat (It will take about 10 minutes).
Whisk the yolks and sugar.
- While the milk mixture is warming up, we can work on the egg yolks.
- Put 4 egg yolks and â…” cup sugar in a mixing bowl and beat them very well. Mix them for a few minutes, until it becomes pale in color and will have a smooth and airy texture.
Temper the eggs.
- When the milk mixture is starting to simmer and the egg yolks are whisked, we can start tempering.
- Using a ladle, slowly and gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the egg/sugar mixture, while constantly whisking the egg yolks.
- After you add a couple of ladles of hot liquid to the beaten eggs, and they are warmed up, you can add the rest of the milk mixture to the bowl and mix very well.
Cook the base mixture.
- Pour the tempered mixture back to the saucepan and put it on a low heat. Cook it for about 10 minutes, or until the mixture start to thicken and the internal temperature reaches 170-175°F.
Strain the base mixture.
- Pour the mixture to a clean mixing bowl through a fine-mesh strainer. That will help to remove any cooked egg pieces and the vanilla bean.
Cool.
- Let the mixture cool on the counter for 30-40 minutes. Then cover with a plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until it’s completely cold.
Churn.
- Churn the ice cream according to manufacturer’s instructions
Freeze.
- When done, transfer it to an air tight container and freeze overnight before serving.
Notes
Why temper the eggs? If you would add hot cream to the eggs, they will simply curdle and cook. When you temper, you slowly and gradually add the hot liquid to the beaten egg yolks, while continuing whisking. This way, the egg mixture will be able to slowly warm up without being cooked. What does churning do? When you churn, you mix the ingredients while freezing them at the same time. This technique helps to break down the crystals and keep them small. That directly affects the texture, keeping it smooth and creamy.
When does the salt come in?
Delicious. The best vanilla french ice cream recipe I have yet tried. Do you have one for coffee and/or chocolate and/or raspberry French icea cream? Best, Israella
How many cups are equivalent to a single serving in the above recipe.
This was a great recipe to make! I’ve put it together three times now and have gotten wonderful results each time. On the third time, I made the following alterations for taste: While the recipe calls for four egg yolks, I ended up using six egg yolks instead, same measurements on the sugar; and I used a tablespoon of vanilla bean paste, which I love because you get all the flavor of vanilla bean without the hassle of splitting and removing the pod. The result was rich, creamy, and altogether delicious. Thank you for providing this recipe to work with!
Just to clarify, the recipe only states egg yolks; so I assume the ‘egg white’ is NOT used for the recipe?
Great recipe! I read another persons review prior to making the ice cream that said it was as good as the Costco French Vanilla Ice cream and thought, really?? Well, it really is as good. I did modify the recipe as I only had 2% milk. I used 1 cup 2% and 1/2 cup condensed milk and it turned out great. Thank you for this great recipe!
Simply delicious! I doubled the ingredients and so happy with the results.
Thank you so much, Lacey!
I used 1/4 cup sugar and the rest I used erythritol sugar replacement…it was really sweet as normal….just staying healthy.. 🙂
Hi Lily! Glad this substitution worked for you 😉
Amazing recipe, not a single step went awry. The final product is very similar to the ice cream that Costco sells. I doubled the recipe and made it in a 6 quart ice cream maker. Once it freezes a bit more I’ll make a brandy milkshake with it 🙂
Thank you so much, John! I love your idea of making a brandy milkshake with it 😉
Thank you Veronika – this is an absolutely wonderful recipe! Instead of using sugar, however, I used 100% pure maple syrup and the flavor has a wonderful light caramel taste – INCREDIBLE.
Also, thank you DANNY for posting your mix spicy mix-ins suggestions….I am a female and I think the powdered-habanero-peppered-nuts addition sounds WONDERFUL! Very yummy! 🙂
Thank you so much! I need to try making this ice cream with maple syrup as well, sounds so delicious!
How much maple Syrup did you use?