Last updated on March 12, 2024
Milk, whipping cream, sugar, egg and a few vanilla pods to add flavor. We are Italians and make the recipe for our delicious vanilla ice cream with the ice cream maker
This is the updated recipe of our homemade vanilla ice cream with the ice cream machine.
It is based on that of crema ice cream, gelato alla crema in Italian, which is the base recipe with egg that we aromatize with vanilla pods.
To give the ice cream mixture a vanilla flavor, we heat it in a saucepan for a few minutes. This also serves to pasteurize the mixture with the eggs.
Before pouring the mixture into the ice cream maker, we wait until it has cooled. It's worth it: the result is a buonissimo vanilla ice cream.
To flavor the ice cream, add the cinnamon pods to the hot mixture. This means that the preparation of the ice cream takes a little longer, because we have to wait for the mixture to cool. We only pour very cold mixtures into the ice cream maker.
| Ingredient image | Ingredient name | Cups | Grams | Ounces |
|
Whole milk | 1.25 cup | 310 g | 10.93 oz |
|
Whipping cream | 0.75 cup | 160 g | 5.64 oz |
|
Sugar | 0.5 cup | 90 g | 3.17 oz |
|
Egg yolk | 3 yolks | ||
|
Vanilla pods | 2 vanilla pods |
To make our ice cream recipes, use whole milk 3.5% fat and whipping cream 35% fat. You don't have to whip the cream, you just add it to the other ingredients.
Sugar is important because it gives ice cream a firm structure. You can also replace it with raw sugar in the same quantities.
We use only the yolks of the egg, and therefore remove the whites.
In our recipes we calculate 200 g of ice cream per person: that is approximately 3 large scoops of ice cream each.
👉 Please note that we measure all ingredients in ounces and grams, even the liquids.
Simply weigh each ingredient with a kitchen scale before adding it to the mixture.
This is an easy and accurate way to measure the ingredients, not only for ice cream.
To make vanilla ice cream we use a classic model compressor ice cream maker, which both cools and mixes our ice cream mixture.
The other type of ice cream makers are those with freezing bowl, slightly cheaper, but which do not generate cold: to use them you must prepare the basket well frozen in the freezer in advance.
When the ice cream maker is ready to make ice, the procedure is the same for both types of ice makers.
👉 Read also our guide about how to use a ice cream maker.
Pour the ingredients into a bowl: whipped cream, milk, egg yolks and finally the sugar.
Mix the ingredients with an immersion mixer, until you get a homogeneous mixture, and the sugar is completely dissolved.
Pour the mixture into a saucepan and heat it over low heat.
Also add the vanilla pods, which aromatize the mixture during heating.
Stir with a wooden spoon and heat without bringing to the boil, otherwise the eggs in the mixture will coagulate.
Stir the hot mixture for a few minutes and then turn off the heat.
To avoid rapid temperature changes, first allow the mixture to cool at room temperature.
Once the mixture has cooled, place it in the refrigerator for another 20 - 30 minutes.
The mixture should already be very cold when you pour it into the ice cream maker.
Not only the mixture, but also the ice cream maker must be properly pre-cooled.
So first turn on the ice cream maker: it usually takes 10 minutes before it is cold and ready to make ice cream.
Remove the mixture from the refrigerator, remove the vanilla pod and blend it again with an immersion mixer until completely smooth.
Then pour the mixture into the well-cooled ice cream maker. We pour it through the opening on the lid: this way the cold doesn't escape.
The ice cream maker continuously mixes the mixture in a cold environment: after about 20 minutes the mixture starts to collect air and increases in volume.
In Italian we say «mantecazione» of ice cream.
You can check the status of the ice through the transparent lid. If it looks like gelato, let it mix it in the ice cream maker for another 5 minutes to firm it up a bit.
Sometimes the ice cream maker stops on its own when the ice cream is ready, because the paddle can no longer mix the ice cream; it also depends on the type of ice cream maker and the ice cream you make.
Your Italian gelato alla vaniglia ice cream is ready. Buon appetito! 🍨
Homemade ice cream is quite soft when fresh from the ice cream machine.
We prepare the ice cream in advance and keep it in the freezer for a few hours before serving. This makes the ice more compact.
In the freezer, homemade ice cream becomes just as hard as ice cream from the ice cream parlour: firmer than ice cream from the supermarket.
If it is too hard, we place it in the refrigerator for about 5 minutes: this way it doesn't melt and it becomes as soft as it was when it was just made.
👉 Our vanilla ice cream recipe contains eggs: therefore we recommend keeping it in the freezer for a maximum of 2 days.
In the restaurant in Italy, when you finish eating, the waiter will ask: 🔊 andava tutto bene? (was everything fine?)
I am Italian from Trentino. I studied philosophy in Padua and worked for many years between Milan and Amsterdam in the field of media and culture.
Since 2021 I write on All Italian to practice foreign languages; meanwhile I share with you the customs and traditions of my country, and the recipes that I prepare at home.