Vanilla Frozen Custard

Vanilla Frozen Custard is a rich dessert of cream, milk, and egg custard flavored with double the vanilla and slow-churned until frozen. The decadent mixture of sweetened dairy and eggs is cooked until thickened and chilled to develop in flavor and body. After churning, you’re left with a fluffy, vanilla-packed frozen dessert perfect for serving on top of cobblers, pies, or sundaes. It tastes even better on its own. 

*This recipe is an update of an original post from September 2018. It contains new images, an updated article, and metric measurements.*

What Is Vanilla Frozen Custard?

Vanilla frozen custard is a frozen dessert made from a cooked, vanilla-flavored custard churned until thickened in an ice cream machine. The main flavoring in this recipe is vanilla beans and vanilla extract. The creaminess of the milk and cream base makes it a silky smooth dessert that is great for serving in many ways.

What’s The Difference Between Frozen Custard And Ice Cream?

The difference between frozen custard and ice cream is the addition or omission of eggs in the base. Frozen custard contains a milk and cream base thickened with eggs, whereas ice cream is usually just milk and cream. 

Adding eggs makes frozen custard smoother and creamier while containing fewer calories than ice cream. 

What Ingredients Do I Need To Make Vanilla Frozen Custard?

The ingredients in vanilla frozen custard are whole milk, heavy cream, granulated sugar, large egg yolks, vanilla bean paste, vanilla extract, and kosher salt. I use a whole vanilla pod and scrape the bean paste out, but you can use jarred bean paste instead. The double hit of vanilla makes this frozen custard extra tasty and adds beautiful flecks of beans to the dessert. 

How Do I Get The Best Vanilla Flavor?

The best way to flavor any vanilla-flavored recipe is with a “fresh” vanilla bean. I put fresh in quotations because it’s actually a dried pod that we’re scraping the pod seeds (AKA beans) out of. You can always replace a vanilla bean with jarred vanilla bean paste. One-and-a-half teaspoons of vanilla bean paste is the same amount you’d scrape from a vanilla bean pod. 

Use a paring knife to trim 1/8-inch from both ends of the pod. Make a slit down the pod’s length with the paring knife’s tip. Next, use the back of your knife blade to scrape the pod seeds from the vanilla pod. Add these scrapings to a 4-quart saucier with the empty pod, whole milk, heavy cream, and kosher salt. 

Bring this dairy mixture up to steaming over medium heat.

Why Do I Have To Temper The Eggs?

Beat the egg yolks and sugar together until they’re pale yellow and fluffy while waiting for the milk mixture to come up to temperature. The more you whip the eggs, the fluffier the frozen custard will be after churning. 

Scoop up a cup of the hot milk mixture once it starts steaming. Add the hot milk to the whipped egg yolks in a slow, steady stream while constantly whisking to avoid curdling the egg mixture. Return the tempered eggs to the milk in the pot similarly. 

Tempering eggs acclimates them to the hot liquid, preventing the mixture from curdling later. If you were to dump the egg mixture into the hot milk, you’d have sweet scrambled eggs instead of a frozen custard base.  

What Do I Do If My Custard Base Curdles?

Heat the custard base over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens. Lift a rubber spatula from the mixture in the pot to test that the custard is the proper consistency. Quickly run your index finger through the custard on the spatula to create a line. The edges of the line should stay in place. Nappe, the culinary term for this, means the consistency of the custard (or sauce) is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. 

Remove the pot from the stove and pour the custard into a separate container with the vanilla bean still in it. Stir the vanilla extract into the custard using a whisk or the rubber spatula.

Improperly tempering the eggs results in a custard that curdles. If you notice a small amount of curdling in your custard, you can strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove them. However, you’ll have to remake the custard if there’s a considerable amount of curdling. Churning curdled custard results in an unappealing, chunky frozen custard.

What Does Aging The Vanilla Custard Base Do?

Allow the custard to cool to room temperature, then cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. 

Refrigerate the mixture for 12 hours or overnight to allow it to age. Aging a frozen custard base gives the protein in the mixture time to plump up, as well as bind with the water, resulting in a fuller, creamier mouthfeel after its churned. You can churn the custard base after chilling it for 4 hours, but the results will be far inferior. Aging also gives the custard ample time to chill, which decreases the likelihood of ice crystals forming in the frozen custard. Ice crystals cause the frozen custard to feel crunchy and less flavorful after churning.

How Long Does It Take To Churn Vanilla Frozen Custard?

Remove the vanilla bean pod and stir the custard base well before churning. 

Pour the vanilla custard base into the frozen bowl of an ice cream machine. Churn the custard until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream or about 20 minutes. If your ice cream machine has an “Ice Cream” setting, set it to that. 

How Long Does It Have To Freeze Before I Can Serve It?

This recipe makes 1 1/4 quarts of vanilla frozen custard. Scrape the churned vanilla frozen custard into 1-quart ice cream containers once it reaches the proper consistency. Place the lids on the containers and freeze the custard upside-down for at least 4 hours. It’s important to freeze the custard after churning it to give it time to set up. If you serve it immediately after churning, you’ll end up with cold vanilla sauce instead of frozen custard. 

Freezing frozen custard upside down in containers prevents ice crystals from forming on its surface, causing freezer burn. It also prevents melted frozen custard from dripping onto the remaining frozen custard in the container and causing an ice crust. 

How Do I Serve Vanilla Frozen Custard?

The best way to enjoy vanilla frozen custard is on its own. That way, you enjoy its flavor without interference. Use an ice cream scoop dipped in water and shaken dry to scoop the vanilla frozen custard out of the containers and into a serving bowl. 

My family and I love to use this vanilla frozen custard as the base for our sundae bars. Top frozen custard with warm chocolate ganache, cajeta, or caramel sauce for added indulgence. 

Vanilla frozen custard is also a great topping for your favorite desserts served a la mode style.

How Long Can I Store It After Making It?

You can store frozen custard in the freezer for six weeks if you store it properly. Ice crystals are the enemy, so avoiding creating them in your frozen custard is important. 

Scoop the frozen custard and return it to the freezer soon after to prevent it from melting and forming ice crystals. Also, store your ice cream containers upside down in the freezer. 

Frozen custard has gone bad when it smells off, has a grainy consistency, or has large chunks of ice crystals on its surface. 

What Recipes Can I Serve This With?

Besides serving this vanilla frozen custard on its own or as the base for sundaes, you should also try it with these recipes:

• 7up Pound Cake with Citrus Glaze
• Dark Chocolate Fudgy Brownies
• Apple Cinnamon Pie with Lattice Crust

Vanilla frozen custard is a staple in the dessert world because it complements many other dessert recipes. Even milkshakes benefit from this frozen custard! Vanilla lovers will enjoy the double dose of vanilla flavor in this recipe. Purists will appreciate the simple ingredients in this frozen custard, as well.

Prepare a batch (or two) for your upcoming shindigs and wow your friends and family with this frozen custard recipe. Tell me what you think of it in the comments below. Be sure to pin this recipe to your frozen desserts board and share it with your crew, too! 

Vanilla Frozen Custard

Marta Rivera at Sense & Edibility

5 from 20 votes

Vanilla Frozen Custard is a rich dessert of cream, milk, and egg custard flavored with double the vanilla and slow-churned until frozen.

The total prep time includes inactive prep for aging and freezing the custard for best results. Begin a day ahead of when you plan to serve it.

Servings: 8 servings

Print Pin Recipe

Prep Time 33 minutes mins

Cook Time 12 minutes mins

aging and freezing times 16 hours hrs

Total Time 16 hours hrs 45 minutes mins

Equipment

• ice cream machine
• 2 1-quart ice cream containers
• saucier or pot with sloped sides

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 1 6" vanilla bean ends trimmed off
• 2 cups (500 milliliters) whole milk
• 1 cup (250 milliliters heavy cream
• 1/4 teaspoon (1 gram) kosher salt
• 6 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup (175 grams) granulated sugar
• 2 teaspoons (10 milliliters) pure vanilla extract

Instructions 

Prepare the Vanilla Bean

• Make a slit down the pod's length with the paring knife's tip.

  Next, use the back of your knife blade to scrape the pod seeds from the vanilla pod.

  Add these scrapings to a 4-quart saucier with the empty pod, whole milk, heavy cream, and kosher salt. 

Heat the Milks and Temper the Eggs

• Bring the milk and cream mixture up to steaming over medium heat.
• While waiting for the milk to come to steaming, heat the egg yolks and sugar together using a whisk or electric hand mixer until they're pale yellow and fluffy.

  The more you whip the eggs, the fluffier the frozen custard will be after churning. 
• Scoop up a cup of the hot milk mixture once it starts steaming.

  Add the hot milk to the whipped egg yolks in a slow, steady stream while constantly whisking to avoid curdling the egg mixture.
• Return the tempered eggs to the milk in the pot similarly. 

  Heat the custard base over medium heat, whisking constantly, until it thickens.

  Lift a rubber spatula from the mixture in the pot to test that the custard is the proper consistency. Quickly run your index finger through the custard on the spatula to create a line. The edges of the line should stay in place.

Cool, Then Age the Custard Base

• Remove the pot from the stove and pour the custard into a separate container with the vanilla bean still in it. Stir the vanilla extract into the custard using a whisk or the rubber spatula.

  Allow the custard to cool to room temperature, then cover the container with a lid or plastic wrap. 
• Refrigerate the mixture for 12 hours or overnight to allow it to age.

Churn, Then Freeze the Vanilla Frozen Custard

• Remove the vanilla bean pod and stir the custard base well before churning. 

  Pour the vanilla custard base into the frozen bowl of an ice cream machine.

  Churn the custard until it is the consistency of soft serve ice cream or about 20 minutes.
• Scrape the churned vanilla frozen custard into 1-quart ice cream containers once it reaches the proper consistency.

  Place the lids on the containers and freeze the custard upside-down for at least 4 hours.
• Serve this vanilla frozen custard on its own, as the base for sundaes, or a la mode-style with your favorite cake, pie, or cobbler recipe.

Notes

Swaps and Substitutions:

• Replace the heavy cream with whole milk for a lighter frozen custard. 
• Omit the kosher salt for a low-sodium frozen custard.
• You can replace the scraped vanilla bean with 1 1/2 teaspoons (8 grams) jarred vanilla bean paste.  

Tips and Techniques:

• If you notice a small amount of curdling in your custard, you can strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve to remove them. However, you'll have to remake the custard if there's a considerable amount of curdling.
• Aging frozen custard base gives the protein in the mixture time to plump up, as well as bind with the water, resulting in a fuller, creamier mouthfeel after its churned.
• You can churn the custard base after chilling it in an ice-bath for 4 hours, but the results will be far inferior.
• If your ice cream machine has an "Ice Cream" setting, use that to churn it to the proper consistency. 
• It's important to freeze the custard after churning it to give it time to set up.  
• Use an ice cream scoop dipped in water and shaken dry to scoop the vanilla frozen custard out of the containers and into a serving bowl. 
• Frozen custard has gone bad when it smells off, has a grainy consistency, or has large chunks of ice crystals on its surface. 

Storage Instructions:

• Store frozen custard in the freezer for six weeks if you store it properly. 
• Scoop the frozen custard and return it to the freezer soon after to prevent it from melting and forming ice crystals.
• Store your ice cream containers upside down in the freezer. 

Nutrition

Calories: 266kcalCarbohydrates: 26gProtein: 5gFat: 16gSaturated Fat: 9gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 178mgSodium: 97mgPotassium: 133mgSugar: 26gVitamin A: 714IUVitamin C: 0.2mgCalcium: 109mgIron: 0.4mg

Course Dessert

Cuisine North American

Keyword frozen custard, ice cream, vanilla

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