Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream

Though I’ve been known to make bagels, cakes, and complex dinners with tons of parts, the truth of the matter is that sometimes I’m a lazy cook. For that reason, I love David Lebovitz’s recipe for Philadelphia-Style Ice Cream. I began making his ice cream a couple years ago out of a fear of making all things custard-like. After pastry school the fear of custard went away but the stress of custard did not – it’s not that it’s hard, it is just a little stressful and sometimes I just want to make ice cream without all the fuss. So for me the perfect solution to the custard-induced stress and the little touch of culinary laziness is Mr. Lebovitz’s ice cream. It is so easy and so delicious and so, so vanilla-y. It is thick and creamy and an amazing go-to recipe to have in one’s repertoire. Also, since this recipe has such a pure vanilla flavour, it lends itself to mix-ins very nicely –try drizzling in a caramel sauce or fresh berries or really anything that tickles your taste buds! The recipe below is one I’ve adapted just a touch from the original recipe in Mr. Lebovitz’s fantastic book The Perfect Scoop.

PHILADELPHIA-STYLE VANILLA ICE CREAM
Adapted from The Perfect Scoop

2 cups heavy cream
1 cup milk (I use skim with no problem, just use what milk you have in the fridge)
3/4 cup granulated sugar (if you don't like a really sweet ice cream, I'm sure you could decrease this a little bit without too much of a problem)
1 vanilla bean (I use half a bean)
1 teaspoon good vanilla extract
1 tiny pinch of salt


In a saucepan, combine one cup of the heavy cream, all the sugar, the pinch of salt and the vanilla bean. Warm the mixture until the sugar has dissolved -- it should take just a few minutes on medium heat. When the sugar is dissolved, add the other cup of cream, milk and the vanilla extract and chill the mixture in the fridge till very cold. When the mixture is chilled, pour it into an ice cream maker through a strainer to get rid of the vanilla bean and freeze according to your ice cream maker's directions. It is really that easy. Remember that you can add in fresh fruit or caramel or cookie crumbs into the ice cream maker during the last minute or two of churning.


Serve by itself or as a side to a crisp, crumble or pie, or with your favorite topping.


Served here with a Vanilla-Scented Strawberry Rhubarb Compote