French Vanilla Ice Cream (Vanilla Bean Custard Ice Cream)

Why You’ll love this Vanilla Bean Ice Cream:

• This ice cream is loaded with a rich vanilla flavor, thanks to a whole vanilla been in the ice cream.
• It’s literally the richest and creamiest ice cream ever!
• This French vanilla ice cream is so much better than you’ll get from the store, or even your favorite ice cream shop.
• It’s easily adaptable, and you can add your favorite mix-ins into the recipe to make so many flavors.

Ingredients needed::

This is a quick overview of the ingredients you’ll need for this French Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe. Specific measurements and full recipe instructions are in the printable recipe card below.

• heavy cream – you can use heavy cream or heavy whipping cream for this recipe, this keeps the ice cream super rich and creamy with the right amount of fat content. 
• whole milk – this gives the ice cream the best fat levels for the best creamy ice cream.
• egg yolks – help to make this custard based ice cream extra rich and creamy.
• granulated sugar – this sweetens the vanilla custard base
• vanilla bean – we’re using the seeds from a whole vanilla bean pod. If you can’t find vanilla beans, you can use 1 Tablespoon of vanilla bean paste, or 1 TBS vanilla extract.
• salt –  just a little, to balance the flavor.

How to make Vanilla Custard Ice Cream ?

1. Make the Custard Base. Add the milk, and half of the cream to a pot and heat it over medium heat just until the edges start to bubble.
2. Temper the Eggs. Whisk the egg yolks and the sugar in a medium bowl for a couple of minutes until the egg yolks start to lighten in color. Set the mixture aside.
3. A Slowly pour about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks, and whisk them together while pouring the cream in. Then add in another 1/2 cup of the cream mixture.
4. Continue to Cook the Custard. Pour the mixture back into the pan and let it continue to heat for a few more minutes until the sugar is dissolved, and the mixture is thick enough to coat the boat of a metal spoon.
5. Chill the Custard Base. Pour the ice cream mixture through a strainer into another bowl to strain out any chunks. Then stir in the remaining heavy cream, vanilla seeds, and salt. Place the bowl over another large bowl of ice, for an ice bath to let it chill, for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Cover the bowl and place it in the fridge to chill for another 2 hours, up to overnight.
6. Churn the Ice Cream. When you’re ready to churn the ice cream, and pour the custard base into the running ice cream maker and let it run until it’s thick, like a soft serve ice cream.
7. Freeze the Ice Cream. Scoop the ice cream into a 2QT container, and cover the container with a lid. Place in the freezer for at least 6 hours, or overnight is even better for a nice scoopable custard style ice cream.

Tips and Tricks:

• Don’t forget to pre-freeze your ice cream machine bowl. Mine takes at least 12 hours to be frozen solid so it will churn my ice cream. Leave it in your freezer to use whenever you’re ready if you have room.
• If you don’t want to make a cooked vanilla custard ice cream, try our Philadelphia style vanilla ice cream instead.
• If you want to add in mix-ins, cut them to be about 1/2 inch in size, and add them into the ice cream maker while it is churning, the last 5 minutes or mixing.

What is the difference between Vanilla Bean Ice Cream and French Vanilla Ice Cream?

This ice cream could technically be considered both a french vanilla ice cream and a vanilla bean ice cream. A French Vanilla ice cream refers to the style of how the ice cream is made (not a vanilla bean grown in France) and is made with a custard based ice cream made with egg yolks in the base, giving it a slight yellow tint to the color.

Vanilla bean ice cream is made with real vanilla beans. You should be able to see tiny black flecks of the vanilla deeds in the ice cream. This ice cream is made in the French style, and is made with real vanilla beans. This French vanilla bean ice cream is the best of both worlds.

What is the difference between French style vs Philadelphia Style Ice Cream?

French style ice cream is a custard, egg based ice cream. The custard base is cooked, and the egg yolks are tempered into the mixture, before chilling and churning the ice cream. It takes longer to make the ice cream, but is extra rich and creamy.

Philadelphia based ice cream is made by mixing heavy cream, milk, sugar and your flavors then churning the ice cream. It is a much faster, still ice cream maker churned ice cream but has a less rich flavor, and texture.

Custard Ice Cream Flavor Variations:

• Berry Ice Cream: Blend 1.5 to 2 cups of washed and hulled berries in a blender until smooth. Pour through a strainer if you don’t want any seeds. Then add the berry puree into the custard base before chilling it in the fridge. You can use strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, etc.
• Cookies and Cream Ice Cream: Add 2 cups chopped Oreo cookies into the ice cream after it finishes churning. Let it churn for another 5 minutes in the ice cream machine.
• Mint Chip Ice Cream – Add 1 teaspoon of peppermint extract to the custard base, you can leave out the vanilla bean and use 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Add 1 cup of mini chocolate chips, or chopped chocolate in the last 5 minutes of churning. (Add 4 to 5 drops of green food coloring to the custard base if desired).
• Cookie Dough Ice Cream: Add 1-2 cups of edible cookie dough chunks into the ice cream base the last 5 minutes of churning.
• Malted Vanilla Ice Cream: Add 1/2 cup of malted milk powder into the custard base before chilling.
• Candy Bar Ice Cream: Add 1 1/2 cups of your favorite chopped candy bar pieces into the vanilla ice cream during the last 5 minutes of churning.

Ice Cream Topping Ideas:

• caramel sauce
• hot fudge sauce
• strawberry sauce
• peanut butter
• sweet whipped cream