Vanilla Frozen Custard

Rectangular container of yellow ice cream with two scoops removed, an ice cream scooper beside it, and a textured cloth in the background.

This delicious homemade frozen vanilla custard resembles soft-serve ice cream, but it’s richer, creamier, and full of real vanilla flavor. Enjoy it fresh from the churn or freeze it for the perfect scoop!

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 30

Refrigerate and Freeze 8

Total Time 8 40

Servings

Ingredients

▢ 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
▢ 1 cup (40 ml) whole milk
▢ ⅓ cup (145 g) granulated sugar
▢ 2 Tablespoon (30 ml) corn syrup
▢ ¼ teaspoon salt
▢ 6 large egg yolks
▢ 1 tablespoon vanilla paste or a vanilla bean

Instructions

In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, sugar, corn syrup, and salt. Heat over medium heat until the mixture reaches a low boil (about 170–180°F / 77–82°C).
In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks. Temper the eggs by pouring about half a cup of the hot cream mixture into the bowl very slowly, whisking the eggs continuously as you pour.
After mixing well, carefully pour the egg and cream mixture back into the pot with the remaining hot cream, whisking as you go.
Continue to cook the custard over medium heat, stirring constantly with a rubber spatula, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (around 180–185°F / 82–85°C). Stir in the vanilla paste.
Cover and refrigerate the custard base until completely cold—at least 4 hours or overnight.
Once chilled, pour the custard into your pre-frozen ice cream maker bowl (follow your model’s instructions). Churn for about 20–25 minutes, or until it reaches soft-serve consistency.
Enjoy immediately as soft serve, or transfer to an airtight container. Press plastic wrap directly on the surface to prevent ice crystals, and cover. Freeze until firm, 2 to 4 hours.

Equipment

medium saucepan
ice cream maker

Notes

If you see chunks of cooked egg in the mixture, pour through a fine mesh strainer to remove.
To speed up the cooling process, pour into a zip top plastic bag or into a clean bowl and place into an ice bath.
If using a vanilla bean instead of paste, split the bean lengthwise, scrape out the seeds, and add both the seeds and pod to the milk and cream mixture while heating. Remove the pod before chilling the custard.