Tuesday, July 14, 2009

Cinnamon & Vanilla Bean Ice Cream


There's just one photo this time, and not a very good one at that, I'm afraid... I've been trying to find an ice cream machine for months now without much luck. well, I finally ended up losing my patience and making it myself. You see, I've been craving really good quality ice cream for a while now, but again, no luck in finding any :( 
If you've already made your own ice cream, this probably isn't the most exciting post I've done. On the other hand, if you've never made your own ice cream, you HAVE to try this. You will never settle for store bought ice cream after this, I promise you! This is SO rich and smooth and silky and full of flavor that you'll never go back to that second rate stuff they pass off for ice cream in most stores.



I started off making vanilla bean ice cream, and then decided that I wanted something a little more complex. So I ended up adding the one flavor that I knew would pair well with vanilla - cinnamon, of course!! Thanks to the vanilla seeds, the ice cream has this gorgeously crunchy (I can't quite describe it any other way) texture, while the cinnamon adds a warmth and depth of flavor that you'll love.

Recipe

Ingredients:

Whole Milk - 500 ml
Double Cream - 500 ml
Caster Sugar - 8-10 tbspns (depending on how sweet you want it to be)
Vanilla - 1 pod 
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp 
Egg yolks - 8 (yes, you read right...:)

Score the vanilla pod lengthwise and remove the seeds.
Mix the milk, cream, vanilla seeds, vanilla pod, cinnamon powder and about 6-8 tbspns of sugar. Bring the whole thing to a boil, remove from heat and keep aside.
Whisk the egg yolks with the remaining sugar until its gone a pale yellow.
Take a ladleful of the hot milk/cream mixture and whisk it into the egg mixture. Repeat with 2 more ladles of the milk.
Remove the vanilla pod from the milk.
Pour the egg mixture into the milk.
Cook on a very low flame for a few minutes until the yolks thicken enough for the mixture to go glossy and be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.
Take it off the heat.
Keep aside for a bit until its cool, then strain it.
If you have an ice cream machine, just follow instructions to chill and make ice cream.
If you don't have one, pour the mixture into a tray and chill in the freezer.
Every 20 minutes take the tray out, and using a ballon whip, whisk the mixture until you've broken the ice crystals and aerated the ice cream until it is smooth.
Keep repeating it until the ice cream reaches the desired consistency.
After this, you can transfer the ice cream into tubs and store in the freezer.
You could serve it with a lot of things, but I honestly think it tastes best on its own. Double portions!!

18 comments:

Fantasies of a Lifetime said...

Mmmmmmmmmmm , looks deeelliiiccciioouus :D . . .I think i have found my cook book , and with so many desserts -- exactly the inspiration I need to make me cook :)

-Vishnupriya

raj said...

@ vishnu
thank you :)
p.s: love your blog! lol. it cheers me up!

The Purple Foodie said...

8 egg yolks?? Holy Moly! I had cinnamon ice cream at a restaurant here and it was one of the best ice cream I've had. I love ow well the flavour of cinnamon shone through.The vanilla bean specs look very sexy.

raj said...

@ the purple foodie
haha! yes! shocking isn't it. when i first read the recipe i thought it was 2 not 8. and now my mother says we ought to call this the triple bypass ice cream. lol, but i;d rather die happy with ice cream than sad and ice cream deprived!!
i have some interesting flavor ideas! will try them out very soon!!

Vasishta Dasika said...

I want some!!! :)

raj said...

@ vasi- but of course! come visit!!

Scribblers Inc said...

how do you score something?excuse my culinary ignorance, but I am more of an eater...:P

Scribblers Inc.

raj said...

@ scribblers inc - lol, well, take a paring knife and run the tip of it all the way down the vanilla pod, cutting through only one side = thats how your score a vanilla pod... or anything else i suppose.

Vasishta Dasika said...

BTW what is double cream??

Deeba PAB said...

Agree with what you say...this sounds YUM!! Yes, nothing beats home made ice-cream!!Delicious!

raj said...

@ vasi- double cream is REALLY rich, heavy cream. i think butterfat is about 45-50%. not certain though. will check!
@ deeba - lol, are you addicted to ice cream as well? :)

glamah16 said...

I love the photo. And just the simplicity of cinnamon is a gret flavor to try.

Marta said...

I want an ice cream machine too!!!
I think this photo looks amazing and your recipe is great! I'm glad I found your blog :)

raj said...

aw thanks! :)

Justin said...

i love seeing real vanilla ice cream with the little seeds... then you know it's going to be great

raj said...

@ justin - so true!! thats sort of my real vanilla ice cream test!

Unknown said...

Yumm! Delicious looking ice-cream! I'm going to have to make this soon! The specs of vanilla bean are tempting me soo bad!

raj said...

@ avanika - thank you! you should definitely make it!