Ice Cream base
Adapted from recipe by Saveur
A good base for any other flavouring
Ingredients
1 cup heavy Cream
1 cup Milk
4 Egg Yolks
½ cup Sugar
¼ tsp Salt
1 tsp Vanilla Essence or 1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise and seeds scraped
Method
Place the egg yolks in a large bowl
In a medium saucepan, combine the cream with the milk, sugar, and vanilla.
Place over medium heat and cook, stirring, until beginning to steam, about 5 minutes
While whisking, gently pour ½ cup of the hot cream into the yolks until smooth, and then stir the egg yolks back into pot of hot cream
Return the pan to medium heat and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, until the mixture coats the back of spoon; 4 to 5 minutes
Pour the custard through a fine sieve into a bowl and let it cool completely; then refrigerate until chilled, at least 2 hours
Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions
Scrape the ice cream into an airtight container, and freeze until set; at least 4 hours
Flavour variations:
Chocolate: Whisk in ½ cup melted chocolate before straining
Mint: Purée cooled ice cream base with ½ cup firmly packed fresh mint leaves, then strain
Cookies and cream: Add in â…“ cup crushed chocolate sandwich cookie pieces in the final stage of freezing
Rum-Raisin: Add 1 tablespoon rum and â…“ cup raisins in final stage of freezing
Coffee: Whisk in ¼ cup ground coffee before straining
Pistachio: Grind ¾ cup toasted pistachios in a food processor until pasty. Add to the pot along with the cream, milk and sugar