Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

So a few summers ago, Spice and I decided to embark on a little journey called Lost. It took us almost the entire summer to catch up on all the seasons so we would be ready for the next one. Unaware of the world around us, Spice sat on one couch, I on the other, and we went through 4  seasons of Lost.

Stop judging us. We have since expanded our horizons to include TrueBlood and also have a continuous stream of Harry Potter coming from our television.

Last Sunday, our Lost journey came full circle and ended just as it had begun. Spice and I. On the couches. Enjoying our time.

Of course, we needed gourmet snacks. Spice made stuffed artichokes and halibut with a mango salsa (that one of us will have to post soon), and I made vanilla bean ice cream to make root beer floats with.

Root beer floats remind me of summers, on vacation with my family. My cousins and I would eat root beer floats until our belly's hurt and then would beg our parents to get more root beer or vanilla ice cream for us when we ran low.



The root beer float brought me right back there. To my mom telling me to eat some real food, and me stubbornly shoving more root beer and ice cream into my mouth. A pang of nostalgia, if you will.

The Vanilla Bean Ice Cream is non-other than David Lebovitz's recipe. It is so rich and full of vanilla flavor. Perfect to make root beer all frothy and sweet. Of course, I could't even get a picture once I poured root beer in my glass. My mouth was too full. =D

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
From The Perfect Scoop or DavidLebovitz.com

1 cup (250ml) whole milk
A pinch of salt
3/4 cup (150g) sugar
1 vanilla bean
2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Heat the milk, sugar and salt in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half and scrape the seeds into the mixture. Throw in the vanilla bean. When warm, cover, remove from the heat and let it sit for one hour.

Set up an ice bath and set a strainer over the top bowl. Pour in the cream to the bowl.

Stir together the egg yolks in a separate bowl. Rewarm the milk and gradually pour it into the egg yolks, whisking constantly. Scrape the yolks and milk back into the saucepan.

Stir over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a spatula until the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula. Strain the custard into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, then add the vanilla extract (homemade if ya got it!). Refrigerate until cold throughout.

Remove the vanilla bean and freeze in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.