Snow Cones or Ice Cream Cones?

Hello there! All moved back into college (finally, been gone for 5 weeks), and classes seem to be rolling smoothly! I’m on the east coast, so it’s pretty cold over here, especially since the snowstorm recently hit, but it managed to not hit my school, so there is no snow here. Anyway… I’ve been craving ice cream for the past two weeks (because honestly, who doesn’t crave ice cream when it’s cold?), so I’ve decided to write my vanilla ice cream recipe for you to enjoy! Don’t worry, chocolate lovers, I will include a chocolate ice cream recipe soon; I’m definitely biased to chocolate. But since the lovely snow is pristine white and fluffy (yes, fluffy), I’m going to match it with simple and sweet vanilla~!

Ingredients:

·      2 cups half-and-half

·      1 ½ cups heavy cream

·      1 vanilla bean

·      8 egg yolks or 4 whole eggs

·      ¾ cup sugar

·      ¼ teaspoon salt

In a heavy saucepan, combine the half-and-half, heavy cream, and vanilla bean pod seeds. Warm over medium-high heat until mixture barely comes to a simmer. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, sugar, and salt vigorously until the mixture lightens in color and doubles in volume. Remove the cream mixture from the heat and whisk it continuously into the egg mixture until smooth. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan and whisk constantly over medium heat until the mixture forms a custard think enough to coat the back of a spoon. Do NOT let it boil. Set up an ice bath in a large bowl and place the custard in a slightly smaller large bowl once it’s run through a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the vanilla bean and stir the custard occasionally until it cools down. Remove the bowl from the ice, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until very cold, roughly 4 hours or up to 3 days. Pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Spoon the ice cream into a freezer-safe container, cover tightly, and freeze until firm, at least 2 hours or up to 4 days.

And that’s it! Enjoy some cold, delicious ice cream in this beautiful winter weather! Have a wonderful rest of the week! ^_^