The tastiest homemade ice cream! It's perfectly rich and creamy and brimming with vanilla flavor. Easy to make and sure to satisfy on a hot summer day! Makes about 5 cups.
Pour heavy cream, milk, sugar and salt into a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat, whisking frequently, until sugar has dissolved, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat.
In a mixing bowl, whisk egg yolks until well blended. While whisking egg yolks, slowly pour 1 cup of the hot milk mixture into yolk then pour egg yolk mixture into saucepan while whisking mixture in saucepan.
Cook mixture over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat proof spatula, until mixture reaches 180 degrees F on an instant read thermometer and thickens slightly (mixture should coat the back of a wooden spatula). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla.
Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl. Let cool to room temperature stirring occasionally, about 30 minutes.
Cover with plastic wrap pressing directly against the surface of the custard mixture to prevent a skin from forming on top. Transfer to refrigerator and chill through, about 6 hours***.
Churn mixture in an ice cream maker according to manufacturers directions until thickened (it should take approx. 25 - 30 minutes). Chill a container in the freezer during the last few minutes of processing.
Transfer ice cream to chilled container from freezer. Spread even. Place in freezer and freeze until firm, about 6 hours.
Notes
*To reduce risk of crystallization, try replacing 2 Tbsp of the sugar with corn syrup if you have some on hand.
**1 vanilla bean can be substituted for another delicious option. If doing so scrape seeds of one vanilla bean, add seeds and vanilla bean pod to cream mixture and simmer. Remove pod before churning.
***Tip: for faster chilling rest bowl in a larger bowl of ice water.