Tuesdays With Dorie: Vanilla Ice Cream

I’m back!

To my millions of readers, I apologize for missing the past two weeks of Tuesdays With Dorie. I didn’t even manage to get my customary “I didn’t make the recipe this week” posts up. It’s been crazy around here. But now #1 Son is safely back from his two separate adventures into Civil Air Patrol Land, and #2 Son is safely tucked away at camp, and I can write up this post about this ice cream, which I actually made weeks ago, just like the Daring Baker cookies, in the hopes of writing the post way in advance.

Wow. Some sentence, huh?

Anyway, Lynne of Cafe LynnyLu got to choose the recipe for us this week, and she decided on Vanilla Ice Cream (and has the recipe and some lovely photos posted). As I mentioned when we made the Honey Peach Ice Cream last month, I make ice cream a lot. I often, but not exclusively, use David Lebovitz‘s marvelous Perfect Scoop, which makes heavy use of custard bases, but I also make a lot of Philadelphia-style ice creams, which do not use eggs and which I actually like better, as a rule.

Dorie’s Vanilla Ice Cream uses a custard base, which is so much more trouble than just heating milk or cream and sugar and adding flavor of some sort. It was worth it, though: The ice cream was yummy.

I used a vanilla bean, which added yet another step to the process, but I love those little black flecks in my ice cream. And Husband helped out by whipping up some fudge ripple to add in — thank you, Perfect Scoop! I also tossed in some candied almond slivers, again courtesy of Perfect Scoop.

All together, it was a match made in ice cream heaven, wherever that might be. (Although #1 Son had other ideas, as you’ll see):

Husband: I thought it was rich and fragrant when it was first made. When it deep-froze it crystalized a little bit and didn’t have as good a mouthfeel. But my ripple matched well with it.
#1 Son: Despite the ice cream being a bit heavy on the fudge ripple part, the flavors were good. The vanilla was very fresh and bright, and the fudge was rich without being overwhelming. Were I to make it again, I likely would add rum to the ice cream and raisins to the fudge, thereby securing its place solely in my own stomach.
#2 Son: Could I have some more deliciousness?

There will be even more variations than usual of this one, being as it is a perfect canvas for improvisation. Check out the Tuesdays With Dorie blogroll, and then make your own variation!