Orange, Cardamom & Chocolate Ice cream + Classic Vanilla

I’ve had the ice cream maker out a lot these last few weeks and now I’ve made it so often I barely have to think while making it! It’s so great to have a churned ice cream base nailed, and then you can add whatever flavours and additions you’re craving. I’ve got a few no-churn ice cream recipes on my blogs (the ones with a condensed milk base) and though they work great and you don’t need a churner, nothing beats a churned custard ice cream base. Sweet and creamy but not too sickly or heavy.

First up I’m sharing a basic vanilla ice cream recipe today. It’s rich and creamy with a crème anglaise style base. It makes about 1 litre of ice cream, and I use 4 egg yolks per 2 cups cream and 1 cup milk. The egg yolks play a key role in preventing the ice cream from becoming icy. You can increase them to 5 or 6 yolks if you want an extra rich ice cream base, but less than 3 can make the ice cream too icy. I think 4 is a perfect amount.

For my Extra Bite subscribers, I am also sharing an orange, cardamom and chocolate shard ice cream. It is YUM. The ice cream is beautifully infused with fresh orange and cardamom seeds and flecked with delicate dark chocolate shards that melt on the tongue.

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 480g (2 cups) heavy cream

• 240g (1 cup) whole milk

• 2 teaspoons vanilla paste or pure vanilla extract

• 1/4 tsp salt

• 4 large egg yolks

• 150g (3/4 cup) granulated sugar

Method

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the heavy cream, milk, vanilla and salt. Heat over medium heat, stirring occasionally until the mixture is hot and small bubbles form around the edges and steam begins to rise, but not boiling.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk the egg yolks and sugar together until the mixture is pale and thick.

3. Slowly drizzle the hot cream mixture into the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. I like to balance the bowl on a kitchen towel to stop it slipping.

4. Pour the mixture back into the saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a spoon, but doesn’t boil (about 77°C - 80°C (170°F - 175°F)

5. Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean bowl.

6. Cover and refrigerate the custard until it’s completely chilled (about 4 hours or overnight).

7. Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

8. Once the ice cream reaches a soft-serve consistency, transfer it to an airtight container and freeze for 4-6 hours until firm. Let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes before scooping.

So that’s the base recipe, and now we can infuse and add to it to bring different flavours!

An Extra Bite

If you’re a free subscriber to my Recipe Newsletter, you’ll continue to receive a free recipe emailed weekly. I also have an “Extra Bite" monthly subscription plan for those who crave a bit more! This gives you continuous access to all the recipes in my growing archives—ad-free, plus bonus recipes.

Thank you so much to those who support this newsletter through a paid subscription. This week's extra bite is orange, cardamom and chocolate ice cream.

I steep the cream and milk with green cardamom pods and orange zest. These will get strained out in the end, but not before they give off all their flavour. Then I add fresh orange juice to the mixture as well. The chocolate shards are made with rich dark chocolate and a little coconut oil. This keeps it from freezing too hard and getting stuck in your teeth. There’s still a super satisfying initial snap of frozen chocolate, but once it warms in your mouth it melts perfectly.