better still, an immersion blender (or keep a blender jar in the fridge for just such eventualities) for some frenzied, violent beating here.
Pour into a bowl to cool (you can reheat it over a saucepan of simmering water later if you like) or serve as is. Enough for 4.
QUICK FOOLPROOF CUSTARD
There is another way, and it’s adapted from British restaurateur Tessa Bramley’s book, The Instinctive Cook.
2½ cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
1 level teaspoon cornstarch
1–2 tablespoons superfine sugar
Put the cream into a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds into the cream, then bung in the bean, too. In a bowl, whisk together the yolks, cornstarch, and sugar. Bring the vanilla cream to boiling point. Remove the bean, allow the cream to rise in the pan, and then quickly pour it onto the egg mixture, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens. This takes about 10 minutes with an electric mixer, so do it with a hand whisk only if you’re feeling strong.
Strain the custard and pour. That’s it. You can reheat it later, and if the custard looks like curdling during the reheating, then you can save it by quickly whisking in 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Serves 4–6.
ICE CREAM
----
Frankly, if you’ve made a custard, you’ve made (bar the freezing) your ice cream; this asks no more of you, just of your kitchen. All that’s needed is an ice cream maker that slots into the freezer rather than a big expensive one that you plug in. Of course, you can just pour the mixture into a Tupperware bowl to freeze and keep taking it out of the freezer to beat the mixture and break up the crystals, but not only is this a bore, the ice cream just won’t be as voluptuously smooth as if it had been churned. Though in fact, the vanilla ice cream below is more doable than most without special equipment—one of the reasons I include it.
BASIC VANILLA ICE CREAM
The difference between custard and ice cream—the temperature at which it’s eaten—makes a difference to the amount of sugar you need; generally speaking, the colder you eat something, the sweeter it needs to be. All flavors, indeed, need to be intense when icy, which is why it drives me so mad when a dessert—or indeed any food—is kept in the fridge until the moment at which it’s served. The cold kills the taste.
So—make the real custard above, only using 2⁄3 cup sugar in place of the ¼ cup stipulated, and using light cream. And I certainly wouldn’t worry here about the specks of vanilla; on the contrary, I’d welcome them. Indeed, scrape the seeds into the cream before adding the bean strips and don’t bother to strain the cream when you pour it over the egg yolks and sugar; you want maximum flavor.
When the custard’s made and you’ve plunged the hot pan into the cold water in the sink, beating well, then you can remove the bean. Let the custard cool (if you keep it in the sinkful of water, beating every now and again, it doesn’t take long) and then freeze in the ice cream maker according to its manufacturer’s instructions.
If you want to make a creamier ice cream, you can stir 1¼ cups heavy cream into the cooled custard before freezing it, in which case use about another ½ cup sugar. And taste for sweetness once the cream’s in: if you think you need more, sifted confectioners’ sugar stirred in will dissolve easily enough.
You can flavor this ice cream to make the flavor the Italians, who know about such matters, call crema. In place of the vanilla pod, infuse the cream with lemon zest and strain as above. I like lemon custard, too, and also custard made with cream infused with the zest of an orange.
THE WORLD’S BEST CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
If you were only ever going to make one ice cream, it would have to be vanilla. But once you’ve lost your ice cream–making virginity, you have to allow yourself to be seduced by the world’s best chocolate ice cream. Marcella Hazan managed to procure
Pour into a bowl to cool (you can reheat it over a saucepan of simmering water later if you like) or serve as is. Enough for 4.
QUICK FOOLPROOF CUSTARD
There is another way, and it’s adapted from British restaurateur Tessa Bramley’s book, The Instinctive Cook.
2½ cups heavy cream
1 vanilla bean
5 egg yolks
1 level teaspoon cornstarch
1–2 tablespoons superfine sugar
Put the cream into a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthways and scrape out seeds into the cream, then bung in the bean, too. In a bowl, whisk together the yolks, cornstarch, and sugar. Bring the vanilla cream to boiling point. Remove the bean, allow the cream to rise in the pan, and then quickly pour it onto the egg mixture, whisking continuously until the mixture thickens. This takes about 10 minutes with an electric mixer, so do it with a hand whisk only if you’re feeling strong.
Strain the custard and pour. That’s it. You can reheat it later, and if the custard looks like curdling during the reheating, then you can save it by quickly whisking in 1 tablespoon heavy cream. Serves 4–6.
ICE CREAM
----
Frankly, if you’ve made a custard, you’ve made (bar the freezing) your ice cream; this asks no more of you, just of your kitchen. All that’s needed is an ice cream maker that slots into the freezer rather than a big expensive one that you plug in. Of course, you can just pour the mixture into a Tupperware bowl to freeze and keep taking it out of the freezer to beat the mixture and break up the crystals, but not only is this a bore, the ice cream just won’t be as voluptuously smooth as if it had been churned. Though in fact, the vanilla ice cream below is more doable than most without special equipment—one of the reasons I include it.
BASIC VANILLA ICE CREAM
The difference between custard and ice cream—the temperature at which it’s eaten—makes a difference to the amount of sugar you need; generally speaking, the colder you eat something, the sweeter it needs to be. All flavors, indeed, need to be intense when icy, which is why it drives me so mad when a dessert—or indeed any food—is kept in the fridge until the moment at which it’s served. The cold kills the taste.
So—make the real custard above, only using 2⁄3 cup sugar in place of the ¼ cup stipulated, and using light cream. And I certainly wouldn’t worry here about the specks of vanilla; on the contrary, I’d welcome them. Indeed, scrape the seeds into the cream before adding the bean strips and don’t bother to strain the cream when you pour it over the egg yolks and sugar; you want maximum flavor.
When the custard’s made and you’ve plunged the hot pan into the cold water in the sink, beating well, then you can remove the bean. Let the custard cool (if you keep it in the sinkful of water, beating every now and again, it doesn’t take long) and then freeze in the ice cream maker according to its manufacturer’s instructions.
If you want to make a creamier ice cream, you can stir 1¼ cups heavy cream into the cooled custard before freezing it, in which case use about another ½ cup sugar. And taste for sweetness once the cream’s in: if you think you need more, sifted confectioners’ sugar stirred in will dissolve easily enough.
You can flavor this ice cream to make the flavor the Italians, who know about such matters, call crema. In place of the vanilla pod, infuse the cream with lemon zest and strain as above. I like lemon custard, too, and also custard made with cream infused with the zest of an orange.
THE WORLD’S BEST CHOCOLATE ICE CREAM
If you were only ever going to make one ice cream, it would have to be vanilla. But once you’ve lost your ice cream–making virginity, you have to allow yourself to be seduced by the world’s best chocolate ice cream. Marcella Hazan managed to procure
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