Custard Ice Cream

Submitted by Um Safia

"This is a beautiful recipe for ice cream...taken from The River Cottage Family Cookbook by Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall. Simple to make & perfect with Recipe#232629, Recipe#232579, apple pie, brownies etc..... NB: "This is a classic method for making ice cream. Avoid serving homemade ice cream to babies, toddlers and pregnant women, as they are at a higher risk for salmonella poisoning from undercooked eggs. " Time to make does not include cooling & freezing time - prep. doesn't inc. time needed to 'fork through' semi frozen ice cream either ;)"

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 5
• Serves: 6

ingredients

• 284 ml single cream
• 1 vanilla pod
• 4 free-range egg yolks
• 125 g caster sugar
• 284 ml double cream

directions

1. Pour the single cream into a medium saucepan. Slit the vanilla pod lengthways with a sharp knife and place it in the pan. Set the heat to medium and heat the cream until it just starts to steam a little. Switch off the hob and let the saucepan sit there. The heat will draw the vanilla flavour into the cream.
2. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar for a minute, until they turn thick and a little paler.
3. Pour the saucepan of hot cream into the sugary egg mixture and whisk again until smooth. Pour it all back into the saucepan.
4. With the heat set very low, stir the creamy mixture constantly with a wooden spoon so it doesn't stick to the base of the pan but heats slowly and evenly. To see if the custard has heated enough, check from time to time with this classic test: take the spoon out of the custard and look at the back of it. The film of custard on the spoon should look noticeably creamier. Draw your finger across the back of the spoon and, if the line stays clear and distinct, your custard has thickened enough.
5. Turn off the heat and carry the saucepan over to the work surface. Carry on stirring for a few more seconds so the cooking process is halted and the custard starts to cool down. Strain the custard through a sieve into a jug.
6. As soon as the custard has cooled to room temperature, put the jug in the fridge for half an hour, then stir in the double cream. Either pour the mixture into an ice cream machine and churn it until it freezes or pour it into a plastic food container.
7. Freeze it for about an hour or until the sides start to get solid. When this happens, mash up the mixture with a fork, mixing the frozen sides into the liquid centre. Put it back in the freezer straight away for another hour. Repeat this twice more at hourly intervals and then let the ice cream set.

Reviews

[Subyz]

This was the BEST frozen custard I've ever made. It took a few minutes to 'translate' into American ingredients & measure, but it was simple enough, using half and half for the 'single cream', heavy whipping cream for 'double cream', and since my local stores didn't have superfine granulated sugar, I just whirled some regular granulated sugar in the coffee grinder for a few seconds. Everyone loved it! Thanks!