I have made this recipe so many times I have lost count. I made a few changes. Instead of sugar I used 1 cup honey. I took the milk and threw it in the blender with my honey to blend it together well. I also reduced the amount of cream by 2 1/2 cups and replaced it with milk. Then instead of refidgerating it over night I just tossed it in the ice cream maker and enjoyed it. SO SIMPLE and delicious. I have made chocolate (added 1/3 cup coco)AND mint chocolate chip(I used peppermint extract instead of vanilla and tossed in some chocolate chips) By far my favorite recipe!
Reducing the sugar to ½C. improves the texture, increases the overrun to about 50%, and kills the over-sweet after taste. Unlike others, I found the recipe's vanilla amount to be perfect once the amount of sugar was reduced. There were reviewer complaints about a buttery or butterfat taste. I believe that to be due to trying to dissolve all the sugar without using an ice bath to keep the cream chilled. The room temperature and the natural temperature rise due to stirring or whisking would warm the cream enough that they were churning butter. It has happened to me in the past, and is a nasty surprise when butter is not the goal. Try whisking the sugar into the half-and-half, then stirring in the cream. This recipe is what ice cream is all about. Mmmm good!
This ice cream is so easy and has no eggs so you don't have to worry about raw eggs in the ice cream. It is a lot smoother and creamier than other homemade ice creams.
This is an excellent recipe...creamy smooth and very quick to make. You can use a vanilla bean as well as vanilla extract. I would suggest letting it get really cold...freeze hard. Do it ahead it is best then and holds up very well. People will think it is a cooked recipe. Yes a keeper!
Generally I make a cooked egg custard base which, being a Wisconsinite and hooked on our frozen vanilla custard here, is my preference. But today I was looking for something simpler, easier and less time-consuming. This was it. The proportions of whipping cream to half-and-half are a little heavier on the half-and-half than my general preference (2 parts cream, 1 part half-and-half) but the difference here was marginal and might suit better those who prefer a less rich ice cream. Since I used this as a base for blueberry ice cream (3 cups blueberries macerated with 3/4 cup sugar and the juice of half a lemon, then pureed) I omitted the vanilla. However, if I was to use this recipe as is, I would still reduce the amount of vanilla somewhat. Even with the addition of the fruit, which often tends to lend some iciness to the ice cream’s texture, this was creamy and smooth. This is a rich and delicious ice cream, a worthy competitor to the cooked custard variety – I *almost* didn’t miss the eggs.
My family loved this ice cream. Having read the other reviews before making the ice cream I doubled the amount of vanilla. I also added half of a package of instant vanilla pudding because it wasn't quite as thick as I'd have liked it to be.
This was the first recipe my 3 daughters and I tried in our new ice cream maker. It was simple enough for the kids to make and very quick to prepare. In the words of my girls..."This is the best vanilla ice cream we've ever tasted !!!" This is our new choice for vanilla ice cream ! LOVE IT !
I use a Cuisinart model ICE-21 which holds about a quart of mix so this recipe is just right for my machine. Rather than heat the half-and-half as some recipes suggest, I powder the sugar using my Vita-Mix. A regular blender will also work. The fine powdered sugar blends easily with the liquid. I normally powder the sugar, and add it to a quart mason jar. I add enough half-and-half to fill to the 2 cup level, shaking until well blended. Then I add the heavy cream to fill the jar. I can do this a day or If you want to try a real creamy treat, use all heavy cream. I know some try to use non-fat products, but I have never been one who considered ice cream to be a health food. It is something to enjoy occasionally, calories and fat be damned.
This recipe is not for people watching their fat intake.....It feels funny in your mouth too....and it was not flavorful...I do not recommend this ice cream to anyone..... sorry....
It was very simple and easy however several family members commented that it tasted like cool whip.
