French Vanilla Ice Cream

In a microwave safe bowl (I use an 8-cup measuring bowl) mix together 4 cups milk, the salt and the sugar. Heat for 4-5 minutes in the microwave until milk is hot and sugar is dissolved.

In another bowl lightly beat the egg yolks. Temper the yolks by slowly adding a portion of the hot milk/sugar mixture in while whisking vigorously. Then slowly pour the yolk mixture back into rest of the hot milk/sugar mixture while continuing to whisk. If you do it right, you’ll won’t have any bits of cooked egg in your mixture and it will still be a liquid.

Return the bowl to the microwave and heat for 5 more minutes at 50% power until very hot. Microwaves will vary. You can’t go wrong by using an instant-read thermometer and cooking until you get a reading of 160 F, but most recipes recommend cooking until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Now I usually place the mixture in the refrigerator to chill, but if you’re in a hurry it is possible to go ahead and freeze for ice cream at this point.

When ready to freeze ice cream pour the egg mixture into a one gallon freezer canister, add vanilla and some half-and-half or whipping cream if desired. Frankly, we are perfectly happy using only whole milk. With the egg yolks, it’s certainly rich enough for our taste. But feel free to use as much half-and-half or whipping cream as you desire. Fill the canister up to the marked line with whole milk or a combination of milk and half-and-half (you’ve got to leave at least an inch of room at the top of the canister for the ice cream to expand. Give the dasher a quick swirl to combine everything together and place the lid on the canister. Freeze the ice cream according the your ice cream maker’s manufacturer’s instructions.

Makes one gallon of ice cream.