Almond Ice Cream

Instructions

1. Toast the whole almonds in a dry skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and chop coarsely. Set aside.
2. In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream, whole milk, granulated sugar, fine sea salt, and the scraped seeds and pod of the vanilla bean. Heat over medium, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is hot but not boiling, about 5-7 minutes. Remove from heat and let steep for 15 minutes for vanilla infusion.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks until smooth.
4. Slowly temper the hot cream mixture into the egg yolks by adding a small amount of warm cream to the yolks while whisking constantly. Then pour the yolk mixture back into the saucepan.
5. Cook the custard over low heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon or heatproof spatula, until it thickens and coats the back of the spoon, reaching 170-175°F (77-79°C), about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil.
6. Remove the saucepan from heat. Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl to remove any cooked egg bits and the vanilla pod.
7. Stir in the pure almond extract and half of the toasted chopped almonds. Cover and refrigerate the custard until thoroughly chilled, at least 4 hours or overnight.
8. Once chilled, pour the custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions, usually about 20-25 minutes.
9. During the last 5 minutes of churning, add the remaining toasted chopped almonds to the ice cream.
10. Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-safe container and freeze for at least 4 hours to firm up before serving.