"So Not French" Vanilla Ice Cream Made Easy

In a day or two, you'll see an interview I filmed with Bruce Weinstein, author of the Ultimate Ice Cream Book. It was set up through foodbuzz, a rapidly growing online foodie community that I serve as a featured publisher for. I will save the details for that upcoming post, but after talking (and eating) ice cream with "Mr. Ice Cream," as I call him, I was inspired to make a batch myself.

I decided to do vanilla, as it really is the king of ice cream flavors (sorry chocolate). No other flavor makes milk taste milkier, or cream taste creamier. When I do vanilla ice cream, I prefer the old fashion "American," or "Philadelphia-style" which doesn't contain any eggs, as the more popular French vanilla does.While this style of ice cream is certainly not as rich, in my opinion that sacrifice is rewarded with a brighter, more pronounced vanilla flavor. I also use a combination of milk and cream, which is obviously much lighter than the traditional all cream versions. You should experiment with different proportions of dairy, and find your "perfect scoop."

The Cuisinart ice cream maker pictured here is the one I use, and highly recommend. It's relatively inexpensive, and will provide many years of homemade ice cream and sorbets. The great thing about this model is that the "bucket" is kept in the freezer, and is ready any time you are. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup cream
• 2 1/4 cup milk
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract