Classic Custard Ice Cream Base
- Total Time
- 45 minutes, plus 4½ hours' chilling and freezing
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:1½ quarts
- 2cups heavy cream
- 1cup whole milk
- ⅔ cup sugar
- ⅛ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6large egg yolks
- Your choice of flavoring (see chart)
Preparation
- Step 1
In a small pot, simmer heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt until sugar completely dissolves, about 5 minutes. Remove pot from heat. In a separate bowl, whisk yolks. Stirring constantly, slowly whisk about a third of the hot cream into the yolks, then whisk the yolk mixture back into the pot with the cream. Return pot to medium-low heat and gently cook until mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 170 degrees on an instant-read thermometer).
- Step 2
Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl. Cool mixture to room temperature. Cover and chill at least 4 hours or overnight. Churn in an ice cream machine according to manufacturers’ instructions. Serve directly from the machine for soft serve, or store in freezer until needed.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Raymond
This is basically my recipe for Gelato which is creamier than Ice Cream. I use 4 egg yokes but can't wait to try it with 6. This is a classic, excellent base I've been using for years. Try it with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract and 1/2 cup of Nutella!!
or - if you're the adventurous type...
make a vanilla version and serve with a tablespoon of Olive Oil and a sprinkle of Sea Salt. Seriously yummy!!
David
Excellent base. I wouldn't change a thing and the 6 yolks are perfect. Over time with making ice cream, I've learned that beating the eggs until they are creamy yellow is key. There is no egg-y taste at all. This is the ice cream base we use in our house. We never purchase pre-made any longer. Our house favorite is vanilla bean with bourbon.
Rothbart
In stead of cooking the custard on stove top, I dump all the ingredients into the Vitamix, set the speed to high or "hot soup" setting and let it run until it reaches 170-175 F measuring the temp. by inserting a digital instant read thermometer (I use ThermoWorks MK4) while the machine is running, it takes about 8 minutes to reach the desired temperature for 1.5 Q of custard, but you need to start monitoring the temperature at 5 minutes. It eliminates the risk of curdling the custard.
ssstrom
I make ice cream almost every weekend during the summer. I use 1 1/2 c. whole milk and 1 1/2 c. heavy cream. Once it begins to bubble around the edges of the pan, I pour all of it into a bowl with the eggs, whisking rapidly as I pour. I then tump everything back into the pan, and a few mins later, the mixture has hit 170. I quickly pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a metal bowl and stir occasionally until it gets room temp and goes into the frig.
Edward Jin
I tried more than 10 times with the recipe. Amazing texture, and taste. This is a really good recipe, but you have to very be careful when you mix the hot mixture with egg yolk. All the other parts are easy to go with beginners.
Meghan
If you are making strawberry ice cream, make sure you taste the strawberry blend for acidity before adding it to the base, and I really recommend balsamic over lemon juice. I usually find I need a full tbsp of balsamic to reach the right level of tartness. The final product is divine.
ConnieB
Made this for the 4th this year, pulverizing mint leaves with the sugar in the food processor prior to making the custard. Then I strained it through a fine mesh strainer before chilling, to remove the flecks of mint. I have a Cuisinart freezer and I drizzled melted chocolate at the very end for mint/chocolate chip ice cream perfection! This is my new go-to. Thanks, Melissa!
julia
Answering my own question here: the London Fog came out perfectly by steeping 1/4c Earl Grey tea leaves with the custard. Served sandwiched between ginger cookies.
Conrad Corpus
For the banana ice cream version, instead of using two medium-sized regular bananas, I used eight baby bananas instead. I find the flavor of baby bananas to be more intense, floral, and bubblegum-like. Lastly, I added chopped walnuts during the last three minutes of churning.
chicken tortilla soup
1/3 cup of sugar
OD62
A great recipe. Easy to follow and fool proof. Only complaint is that it was e bit sweet. Made my teeth ache. Need to cut back the sugar a bit. Thanks,
Laura S.
Directions in many of the flavour options say "Let custard steep off the heat for 30 minutes before straining". Do you mean let the custard cool for 30 minutes before straining? That seems opposite to the video. Please explain. I added my basil, ground with 1/2 the sugar, to the last few minutes of the custard heating. Then strained, there was no curdling but lots of basil so I just returned it all to bowl where it sits cooling and I sit wondering what "steep off heat" means.
Minny Apples
Mint was way too sweet-- the recipe was not clear if you added sugar to custard and to pulverize mint in blender.
TP
Made this by steeping 5 teaspoons of my favorite loose leaf hibiscus black tea before straining, which is the base of my favorite alternate creme brulee. Consistency and flavor came out great in my KitchenAid mixer but was so overly sweet I felt that the batch was ruined. Next time I'll consult the comment sections and adjust sugar content accordingly.
Alisa
Perfect recipe for basic ice cream. Easily manipulated. I added cocoa into the egg yolks for a chocolate ice cream, I steeped lavender in with the milk and cream to make a lavender ice cream. Go heavy on the flavors because they become muted once you freeze the ice cream.
Sara
The best ice cream I ever ate. I made the salted caramel version and chopped up a choco-love salted caramel bar and added it as it was churning. OH!
negien
Nice consistency but wayyyyyy too sweet!
Brittany G
I made this ice cream tonight in my KitchenAid ice cream attachment, and it turned out absolutely delicious. Like other readers, I used only ½ c of sugar and whisked my yolks until pale yellow. I added 1 vanilla bean and ½ t of Balbair scotch to the mixture on the stove after the eggs were added. It's very good, although possibly still too sweet.
AD
I did 1/2 cup honey in the base instead of sugar, 4 yolks instead of 6, and ended up with a strawberry ice cream that was DIVINE. Also subbed in 1-2 Tbsp honey for the sugar in the strawberry mixture. I have a 1-quart ice cream maker and used almost all of the custard base and about half of the strawberry mix. The custard formed a "skin" in the fridge overnight but that was fine, it churned smoothly. Will use this recipe again for sure. I recommend watching the video if you can.
AD
Subbed honey for sugar and the strawberry ice cream that resulted was DIVINE. 1/2 cup honey in the custard base and 1-2 Tbsp in the strawberry mixture. Also used 4 yolks instead of 6 in the base. I ended up with slightly more custard and about twice as much strawberry mixture as I needed for a 1-quart ice cream maker. I will definitely be using this recipe again and again. Thank you!
Sophia Lyons
We use three yolks for vanilla/sweet cream/flavors that don't add extra water, five for bases that do (i.e. fruit). I basically have the recipe memorized, we make it so often.
Ed
Too sweet. Curdled easily. This is a basic recipe torn from the internet. Look elsewhere.
Ed
Instantly curdled the milk. So much was wasted. I’m not impressed. There are easier recipes and better ones.
Sandra
Excellent base for any ice cream. I churned cherries soaked in kirsch, absolutely divine.
Mo T
The flavoring chart is not loading (10/2022) & I would love to see the chart or examples of recommended flavorings before trying the recipe! Can anyone help by posting examples, please?
Lisa S.
I did this recipe for the first time using 6 range free eggs and vanilla bean paste instead of vanilla extract. The output was a sweet, smooth, creamy gelato that freezes well. Because I was using my ice cream maker, I chilled the aluminum churning container 24 hours prior and the bowl for chilling the custard 4 hours prior.
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