Ice Cream and Gelato + Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe

A few months ago I purchased a new ice-cream maker. While the old one was still doing its job, it had certainly seen better days so using my family's frequent flyer points I bought a new one. The one I chose was a Cuisinart one and you can view the model online here. The reason I chose it was because the bowl didn't require freezing to churn the ice cream as it has an inbuilt compressor which chills the bowl without the prior commitment of freezing it which is great if you decide to make some ice-cream on a whim. The first flavour I made in my new machine was vanilla bean which is my all-time favourite ice-cream flavour.

When my new Ice Cream maker turned up, I was confused as to why there was both an ice-cream and a gelato paddle included. This got me thinking about what the real difference between ice-cream a gelato actually is because for all I knew they were virtually the same... I was wrong. The main difference between the two is not where they originate from (although that is different as well) but the ratio of cream and milk in them. Ice Cream mainly uses a similar amount of cream and milk (this changes slightly depending on flavour) however Gelato has a high ratio of milk to cream meaning a lower fat content. I'll still admit though that while I now know more about the two products, it hasn't changed my opinion of them in the slightest and I love them both equally for their deliciousness.

This weekend I made both an ice-cream and a gelato.
The first flavour was a vanilla bean ice-cream with a vanilla caramel swirl. The flavours in this ice-cream were sweet and delicious and I absolutely love the flavour of a vanilla bean caramel. I added the sauce to my traditional vanilla bean ice-cream and swirled it through when I was pouring it into a container to place in the freezer.

The second was a blackberry gelato. I chose this flavour as I had a really delicious one at a Gelato Shop in Townsville recently. The flavour in this recipe was subtle but delicious. It wasn't too tangy or sweet and it had the most divine colour. Next time I definitely want to try for a stronger flavour but this was absolutely delicious and the end result had a wonderful mouth feel which I am unsure whether it was from the different churning blade or the use of more milk.

Here is my vanilla bean ice-cream recipe, it is probably very similar to many of the other recipes you will find online. It is my absolute favourite flavour of ice-cream and being custard based it is a lot more rich that your average supermarket ones. If you attempt this recipe, let me know by commenting below or tagging me on instagram @sweettreatsbytannah. I apologise that this recipe isn't print friendly (a quick copy and paste into a word document should work though) but please enjoy!

Vanilla Bean Ice Cream Recipe 

Makes approx. 1L

Ingredients

- 8 egg yolks

- 150g caster sugar

- 375g full cream milk

- 375g thickened cream

- 1-2 vanilla beans (depending on size)

Method

1. Whisk together egg yolks and sugar in a medium sized bowl until pale and fluffy. 
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, cream and scraped vanilla seeds. Place over a medium heat and bring to a gentle boil.
3. Once the milk has reached a gentle boil, remove from heat and add a small amount to the egg yolk mixture, whisking well after the addition. This will temper the eggs so that you can add the remainder of the hot milk mix without cooking the eggs. 
4. Transfer the mixture back into the saucepan and place over a low heat. Cook while continuously stirring until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. You don’t want a custard like consistency but more like thickened cream.
5. Place mixture back into the bowl over an ice bath until it cools to room temperature. Decant the cooled mixture into your ice-cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. Once it has churned, place into the freezer to firm up completely then enjoy. (The ice cream can still be enjoyed straight from the mixer but will melt quite quickly)
6. This recipe is very versatile, you can serve it by itself or with almost any dessert. Or you can easily customise this recipe by adding crushed cookies, lollies, chocolates etc just before you finish churning it. You can even omit the vanilla seeds and add 1 tsp of vanilla essence before the mix cools.