Prep Time: 20 minutes

Churning Time: 20-30 minutes

Special Tools: Ice Cream maker- you can pick up a decent home model for

anywhere from $40-300. The Kitchen Aid model is really quite good and can be found for under $100

1 lt. milk

300 ml. heavy cream

10 egg yolks

250 gr. sugar

1 vanilla bean or 1 Tbsp. vanilla paste.

*you can find vanilla bean paste at Qzina, 12547-129 St NW, I do not recommend using vanilla extract, it has nowhere near the same flavour

Place a medium pot with about two inches of water on the stove

In a another pot place milk, cream, and vanilla bean or paste, if using the vanilla bean, split open from end to end, and scrape the seeds out into the milk

Bring a slow simmer

Meanwhile, in a metal or glass bowl big enough to sit over the pot of water, place egg yolks and sugar, whisk to combine

Once your milk mixture is hot remove the bean, leaving the seeds behind, if using the paste, don’t worry, you’re all set.

Now, whisking vigorously, slowly add the hot milk to the egg yolks, this is called tempering, you want to slowly bring up the temperature of the yolks, but if you add the milk too quickly you will scramble the eggs

Once the milk and eggs are combined place the bowl on the pot of hot water, this will create a double boiler, allowing you to heat up the custard without overcooking the eggs or scrambling them. Continue to stir vigorously as the mixture thickens, this will take 3-4 minutes

You will know when it’s ready when the mixture will coat the back of a spoon without running down, it will be thick like a warm pudding

Remove from heat and continue to stir until the mixture begins to cool slightly

Once cooled slightly place in the fridge and allow to cool completely,

this step is important, trying to mix this right away from hot will create large ice crystals and very grainy ice cream

Once cool, plug in your ice cream maker and begin to churn, don’t overfill it either, as that will also slow the process and create grainy ice

cream, do it in batches if necessary.

Once you understand this basic ice cream recipe you can begin to experiment and create virtually any flavour combination. Fold in nuts, candies, chocolate chips, even cookie dough if you choose, as the ice cream is just about set. Enjoy!