INSTRUCTIONS

In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks, ¼ cup sugar, and salt. In a heavy saucepan, combine the milk, cream, remaining ¼ cup sugar, vanilla bean and seeds, and any other flavour (like mint leaves). Cook the milk mixture over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until almost simmering. This homogenises the liquid, dispersing the fat and stabilising the tasty globules with milk protein.

Slowly pour the liquid into the egg mixture, whisking as you pour. Return the mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard reaches 80 degrees and lightly coats the spatula. This pasteurises the raw eggs and can be skipped in an eggless recipe.

Strain the mixture into a freezer bag or bowl, discarding the vanilla bean and other flavourings. Whether you’re cooking from

BY JENI BRITTON BAUER, Owner,

I LOVE ALL vanilla ice cream. After my own, I’d get a pint of Häagen-dazs, and then the Dairy Queen vanilla cone I grew up with. Vanilla is a big, round flavour that makes you feel good. It’s rich and emotional. As an ice-cream maker I’m always trying to find the next vanilla, another flavour with feeling, but nothing quite matches it.

Everyone thinks it’s plain; it’s not. Vanilla is so complex, like a wine, whisky, or chocolate – definitely chocolate – and it reflects where it’s from. Each vanilla