4 Courses to Love – Home Made Vanilla Bean Ice Cream with Raspberry + Mint
The most important part of this recipe is the vanilla bean ice cream. It also has instructions for raspberry syrup, but you don't need to make that along with it. The ice cream is fantastic on its own and can be made for any occasion. This recipe requires 20 minutes of active work, but also needs about 16 hours of chill time. Makes about 1.5 quarts.
Servings 8
Ingredients
For the Raspberry Syrup:
- 1/2 cup fresh raspberries 1/3 cup frozen
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1/4 cup sugar
For the Ice Cream Base:
- 1 pint 2% milk
- 1 pint heavy cream
- 1/2 vanilla bean split (or 1 tsp vanilla extract – not as good, but still good)
- 8 egg yolks
- 10 oz granulated sugar
To Serve:
- dark chocolate - 70-80%
- fresh mint
Instructions
First, make the raspberry syrup:
- Put the ingredients for the syrup in a small sauté pan and bring to a simmer.
- Cook the syrup until the raspberries fall apart. If the mix becomes too reduced, add more water.
- Once done, pour the syrup through a fine mesh sieve and work at it with the back of a spoon, mashing the raspberries into the sieve
- Scrape the bottom of the sieve with a spoon to collect the pulp there and add it to the rest of the liquid.
- Stir the pulp and syrup together, transfer to a bowl and put in the fridge to cool.
Next, make your ice cream base:
- Combine the milk and cream in a sauce pan. Scrape out the insides of the vanilla bean and add the seeds (that's what all those tiny things are) to the cream.
- Bring the cream to a boil, whisking frequently to prevent scorching.
- While the cream is coming to a boil, in a stand mixer (or other bowl if you don't have a stand mixer), whisk together the eggs and sugar until smooth and uniform.
- Once the cream has come to a boil, remove it from the heat and, while whisking constantly, slowly ladle in about 1/2 of the cream.
- Add the egg and cream mixture to the rest of the cream and whisk together. Put back on the stove over medium low heat and whisk constantly until it comes to a simmer.
- Strain the ice cream base into a bowl set in an ice bath.
- Cool the ice cream base to a little below room temperature before transferring to a lidded container and placing in the fridge for 8 hours
Mix the ice cream:
- Put the chilled ice cream base into your ice cream machine and mix until it's thick and creamy.
- Transfer back to the lidded container (be sure you wash and dry the container first) and put in the freezer over night.
To Serve:
- Put a couple spoonfuls of the syrup into the bottom of your serving bowl, then add a rounded scoop of vanilla ice cream directly on top. Garnish with chocolate shavings and a sprig of mint.