Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream

One thing my family was known for was having huge get togethers on certain holidays. My cousin taught me how to make ice cream. My other cousin actually worked in a little store that sold about fifty flavors of ice cream and then she taught me how to do that. (Shhh, it was against store policy.)

Ingredients

• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of sugar
• ¼ teaspoon of salt
• 2 ½ cups of whipping cream
• 2 cups of half-and-half cream
• 2 ¼ teaspoons of vanilla extract _{(If I can, I usually add vanilla bean instead, depending on your taste you may want to up the extract or not add so much, just has to be something you mess around with.)}

Directions

In a saucepan combine the first five ingredients, make sure to cook on medium-low heat and to stir it constantly. After a while it should be thick enough to coat a metal spoon, you don’t want it runny. If you have a cooking thermometer you can check and it should be around 155ish-160ish degrees F. Slide the pan over, taking it off the heat. You can speed up the cooling process by setting the pan in ice and stirring the mixture. Cover and refrigerate overnight or freeze immediately. When ready to freeze pour the custard and vanilla into the cylinder of an ice cream freezer. Freeze according to the manufacturer’s direction.

If you are on the go and need it now

Don’t use eggs. Instead have about four cups of crushed ice cubes. If you have bigger bags you can use the amounts above if not you may want to this:

• 1 cup of half and half cream
• 1/4 cup of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 4 cups of crushed ice cubes
• 3/4 cups of salt

In a small re-sealable plastic bag combine the cream, sugar, and vanilla; make sure to press out any and all air then seal it. In a large re-sealable plastic bag combine the ice and salt. After making sure the sugar, cream, and vanilla are well mixed you can add that to the large plastic bag. Don’t forget to seal or you are going to have a huge mess on your hands. Knead the bag or shake for 7-10 minutes give or take until the mixture has thickened. There you go! Might want to add that this probably won’t serve many since you use less of everything in most cases, but hey you can do this multiple times and have tons of ice cream, works out those arms too! What a plus.

It’ll be a yummy treat for the next day or later that day.