“Bushels of peaches, peaches white and peaches yellow, brandied and eaten with ice cream, the greatest treat of all.” Henry James, The Young Master
If you’ve been searching for the perfect sweet, velvety, homemade vanilla, and if you have an ice cream maker handy (this recipe does require an ice cream maker) hop on down for our recipe – vanilla ice cream doesn’t get better than this.
WHAT YOU’LL NEED
Equipment:
- large mixing bowl
- spatula
- freezer-proof storage bowl (at least 1L capacity)
- ice cream machine – we use this Cuisinart one which we love. It’s quiet, easy to use and clean and has several smart features including a lid you can easily open during churning to add ingredients. The Gaggia Gelateria also comes recommended by a friend. If budget allows, these two both avoid the requirement of cheaper versions to pre-freeze the bowl. Having an inbuilt freezer makes a world of difference to ease of use and prevent it becoming just another disused gadget.
Makes: 1 Litre
INGREDIENTS
- 220 ml full fat milk
- 150 grams granulated sugar
- 450 ml double cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
The above makes basic vanilla ice cream – for any flavours that you want fully blended, add these prior to churning. For biscuit pieces, chocolate chunks or any additions you want to keep unhomogenised with the ice cream, add these to the churn just before it finishes to keep them from breaking down. And for additions like raspberry coulis or toffee, add these between layers as you pour the ice cream out of the churn into your freezer proof storage dish.
If you want to create different flavour variations, below are some tried and tested ones (options are endless). For chocolate ice cream see here.
White Chocolate chip:
- 100 grams white chocolate chunks (add a few minutes before churning finishes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.
Dark Chocolate chip:
- 100 grams dark chocolate chunks (add a few minutes before churning finishes)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla paste.
Coffee and brandy:
- 2-3 tablespoons coffee essence
- 2 tablespoons brandy
Ginger:
- 100 grams stem ginger, chopped
- 3 tablespoons ginger syrup
Raspberry flavour:
- 150 ml raspberry coulis (homemade recipe here) – layer ice cream into container and swirl the coulis through a little. We often add a dash of vodka to the coulis to prevent ice crystals forming and make it smoother once frozen – it can otherwise go quite icy.
Rum & Raisin:
- 150 grams raisins soaked in 4 tablespoons of rum for a couple of hours
METHOD
- Pour the milk and sugar into a medium bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved. Stir in the cream and vanilla, cover with clingfilm and refrigerate for a couple of hours or, better still, overnight.
- Whisk the mixture before pouring into your ice cream machine. Follow the directions of your machine. Alternatively, if you haven’t got a machine, place the mixture into your pre-chilled freeze-proof bowl and place it in the freezer, removing to stir a total of three or four times once an hour. This will reduce the ice crystals that form.
- Five minutes before the machine has finished, the ice cream should have thickened but remain fairly soft. Add your chocolate chunks or similar and allow the churn to continue mixing for the remainder of its time.
- Pour ice cream into your freezer-proof dish and place in the freezer for four hours before serving.
To finish:
Serve as desired – alongside pudding, in a cone for the kids, as an ice cream sandwich or sundae-style sprinkled with your favourite syrups and nutty toppings. Here we chopped up some peaches, macerated them and added them as a side, but with a little extra time, brandy-soaked and caramelised works beautifully with chopped nuts sprinkled on top.
