Cornstarch Ice Cream*

By RJamoralin

Episode: Delicious Desserts
level: Easy
Recipe courtesy Mark Bittman

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups light cream, half and half or milk (whole or skim), or a combination
• 1/2 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 125mins
Cooking time 140mins
Adapted from cookingchanneltv.com

Preparation

Step 1

Put 2 cups cream, half and half or milk, the sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. If using a vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and scrape seeds into liquid, then add pod. Cook until mixture begins to steam.

In a bowl, blend cornstarch and remaining cream, half and half or milk; there should be no lump. Remove bean pod from pot and discard. Add cornstarch mixture to pot. Cook, stirring, until it starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. immediately reduce heat to very low and stir for 5 minutes or so until thick. Stir in vanilla extract, if using.

if mixture has lumps, strain it into a bowl. Chill until cool, a couple of hours (you can skip this step if you have a machine with a built in freezer). When cool or if there are no lumps, pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Honey-Jam Variation: Substitute honey for half the sugar. Add 1/2 cup good jam to mixture before freezing.

Buttermilk or Yogurt: Substitute buttermilk or yogurt for half the cream or milk.

Cherry-Vanilla: Add 1 cup halved, pitted cherries just before freezing.

Strawberry, Blueberry or Peach: Add 1 cup hulled, sliced strawberries, blueberries, or peeled and chopped peaches before freezing.

Coffee: Substitute 1/2 cup very strong coffee for 1/2 cup cream or milk.

Coconut: Substitute 1 cup coconut milk for 1 cup cream or milk; add 1/2 cup toasted dried coconut if you like.

Mint Chocolate Chip: Add 1/2 cup minced mint and 1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate just before freezing.