Makes approximately 1 quart

1 cup whole milk

1 vanilla bean, sliced in half lengthwise

2 cups heavy cream

¾ cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons all purpose flour

6 large egg yolks

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a simmer over medium high heat. Remove from the heat.
2. On a cutting board, using a small sharp knife, scrape down both halves of the vanilla bean placing the black seeds into the hot milk. Add the pod halves to the milk as well. Allow the mixture to steep for 15 minutes. Remove the pod halves and discard.
3. Add 1 cup of the heavy cream into the milk, and again bring the mixture to a simmer.
4. In a large heatproof bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour and egg yolks for about 1 minute or until thickened and the color turns a pale yellow.
5. Slowly whisk the hot milk and cream mixture into the sugar and yolks.
6. Pour the mixture back into the same saucepan and place it over medium heat.
7. Using a whisk, stir constantly until the custard thickens slightly.
8. To allow the custard to cool quickly, pour the custard through a strainer set over a medium bowl which has been placed into a larger bowl of ice and water. Allow it to cool over the ice water bath for about 10 minutes.
9. Whisk in the remaining 1 cup of heavy cream.
10. Cover the bowl and chill for several hours or overnight.
11. Process the custard in an ice cream machine following the manufacturer’s directions.
12. Pour the processed ice cream into an airtight container and freeze until firm.

Additions

After processing, pour soft ice cream into a bowl and quickly fold in one or more of the following:

• 1 ½ cups chopped nuts
• 1 ½ cups chopped semisweet chocolate or mini chips
• 1 ½ cups fresh, pitted cherries, halved
• 1 ½ cups fresh strawberries, cut into small chunks
• 1 ½ cups fresh, pitted and peeled peaches, cut into small cubes
• 1 ½ cups chopped halvah
• 1 cup room temperature ganache
• 1 ½ cups mini peanut butter cups or other small candies