Lesson 1 of 5 · Ice Cream at Home

Vanilla bean custard base

  • Free video
  • Beginner
  • Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts
  • 7 min
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Video by Food Wishes on YouTube: “Frozen Vanilla Custard - French Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe - How to Make Custard Style Ice Cream” Watch on YouTube ↗

What you'll learn

Lesson 1 of 5

Cook a French-style vanilla custard base, the richest, smoothest foundation for homemade ice cream.

  • Cook the custard to about 170–180°F, never boiling
  • Strain and chill the base thoroughly
  • A real vanilla bean gives the deepest flavor

Ingredients for this lesson

Madagascar Vanilla Beans, Grade A, 5 BeansVanillaGoods$15.00
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Uganda Vanilla Beans, Grade A, 5 BeansVanillaGoods$18.00
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Madagascar Vanilla Extract, 4 oz BottleVanillaGoods$19.00
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Shop all vanilla beans →

Lesson notes from VanillaGoods

Step by step

  • Heat milk, cream, part of the sugar and a split, scraped vanilla bean until steaming
  • Whisk egg yolks with the rest of the sugar
  • Temper the yolks with the hot cream, then return everything to the pan
  • Cook, stirring, until the custard coats the back of a spoon (about 170–180°F)
  • Strain, then chill at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, before churning

Why chill overnight

A cold base churns faster, which makes smaller ice crystals and a smoother ice cream. Resting also lets the vanilla flavor deepen.

VanillaGoods tip

Rinse and dry the used pod and bury it in sugar to make vanilla sugar for your next batch.

Next: Churning and hardening →

Tools for this lesson

The equipment that makes this easier. VanillaGoods vanilla is always our own; these tools are from Amazon.

As an Amazon Associate, VanillaGoods earns from qualifying purchases. We only suggest tools that fit what you're learning.

Put it into practice

Bake along with a VanillaGoods recipe that uses this technique.

Find vanilla ice cream recipes

Videos are embedded from YouTube with the official player and belong to their creators. VanillaGoods is not affiliated with these creators unless stated; lesson notes and product suggestions are our own.