Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Without An Ice Cream Machine
No ice cream machine is needed for this homemade vanilla ice cream recipe! It’s made in the French style with cooked eggs, giving the creamy ice cream an extra rich texture and luxurious quality.
As I promised last week, here is a post on how to make French vanilla ice cream at home, no ice cream machine required. And it is the creamiest ice cream ever!
This no churn ice cream is basically a spin on a semifreddo, which I have made so many times I could do it with my eyes closed. What’s with all the semifreddo in my life?
Well, after I tasted some, I simply didn’t care for storebought ice cream anymore. Most of them are these atrocious guar gum xanthan gum whatever gum filled fakeries (exception: Haagen Dazs, which is generally made with simple ingredients, but is also pretty expensive). This way I can put whatever I want in my ice cream for CHEAP.
I’ve made this delicious homemade ice cream as pistachio, mango, peanut butter, chocolate, melon, and so on, but today I’m going to show you how to make some good old vanilla, so you can take that Summer Berry Cobbler Ramekin Pie I posted the other day to the next level.
What’s nice is that unlike the typical no churn ice cream made with sweetened condensed milk, this has a more mellow and marshmallow-like flavor.
Step by Step Overview:
Start by whisking up 2 eggs and 4 egg yolks with granulated sugar in a double boiler until thickened and frothy:
My double boiler setup is simply a large bowl set over a saucepan with an inch of simmering water. Make sure the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water at all.
If six eggs seems like a lot, know that it’s those egg yolks that increase the fat content and make this the most delicious ice cream. Just wait until you try it!
Next, make whipped cream out of heavy cream, sugar, and vanilla extract, mixing it with a hand mixer or simply a whisk until you get soft peaks. If you accidentally go to stiff peaks, that’s okay, but make sure not to go beyond that, or the cream will separate into butter and buttermilk.
Also, you may use a vanilla bean paste instead of extract, or add a scraped vanilla bean pod for visible vanilla specks throughout the mixture.
Fold the whipped cream into the custard, then place it in a glass loaf pan container, or the freezer-safe dish of your choice:
If you can, try to put the dish in the freezer ahead of time for best results, but it’s no big deal if the dish is at room temperature.
Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard to prevent a skin or ice crystals from forming on top:
Freeze immediately for 4-6 hours, until it is completely frozen.
Then either cut into slices, spoon some into bowls using an ice cream scoop, or portion scoops into ice cream cones. Enjoy! It is especially wonderful on a hot summer day.
Recipe Tips and FAQ
Keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 4 months. Make sure it is tightly sealed to prevent freezer burn.
No. Make sure you buy heavy whipping cream for this. You need high fat here to make the recipe work.
Yes, though know that fresh fruit is pretty firm when it’s frozen. Jam swirls, or even lemon curd, tend to be better choices.
For more of my favorite ice cream recipes, try Biscoff Chocolate Chunk Ice Cream, Pumpkin Chip Gingersnap Cookie Ice Cream, or Mint Chip Gelato Ice Cream Sandwiches.
Recipe Variations
Chocolate chips – Feel free to mix in chocolate chips for a straciatella-like effect. I recommend using mini chocolate chips, or cutting shavings from an actual block of chocolate. Chopped mini peanut butter cups are also delicious.
Easy Hot Fudge Sauce – Swirl up to 1/2 cup into the base before freezing.
Caramel Sauce – Swirl up to 1/2 cup into the base before freezing. Or drizzle it over the top before serving.
Did you enjoy the recipe? Please leave a 5-star rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. Or, follow me on Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest!
Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Without An Ice Cream Machine
Ingredients
- 2 extra large eggs
- 4 extra large egg yolks
- 1/2 cup sugar+2 tbsp sugar
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 vanilla bean
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Instructions
- Start by setting up a double boiler (a heatproof bowl set over a pot with an inch of simmering water), and prepare an ice bath that the bowl can be set into later. Place the eggs, egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt into the bowl. Split the vanilla bean down the middle and scrape out the seeds, and add those and the scraped vanilla bean to the bowl as well. Cook for about 10 minutes, whisking frequently so the egg doesn’t scramble**, until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F on an instant read thermometer. Immediately remove the custard and place it into the ice bath to cool, and remove the vanilla bean.
- **If you do happen to scramble some of the eggs, don’t worry. Just strain the custard through a fine mesh sieve after it’s reached 160 and beat air back into it with a hand mixer.
- In a medium bowl using a mixer, whip the heavy cream until a little frothy. Add in the 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tsp vanilla extract, and whip to soft peaks.
- Remove the egg custard from the ice bath, and add 1/3 of the whipped cream to it to lighten. Fold in the rest of the cream and pour into a container. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the custard so a skin doesn’t form. Freeze immediately for 4-6 hours, depending on your freezer. Enjoy your homemade ice cream!!!!
Nutrition
Nutrition is estimated using a food database and is only intended to be used as a guideline for informational purposes.
56 Comments on “Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Without An Ice Cream Machine”
Lovely wil try for sure as I m new to baking I ve found it easy with step guide
This looks great – though if one were to modify this to make dulce de leche ice cream, do you have any suggestions for how much should be added?
Dulce de leche would work well here, however you’d want to cut down on the added sugar since the dulce de leche has a lot in it. You should simply sweeten it to taste, but I’d imagine you’d use about 1/2 cup. Start there and taste.
Ended up trying it yesterday and it was FANTASTIC!! Love the creamy texture, tastes like expensive ice cream, and best of all, it wasn’t hard to make! Would love to make other versions, such as chocolate, various fruits, etc. Can you tell us how? Can I just add cocoa powder?
Oh you did try it! Didn’t see your new comment until now. Glad you enjoyed it!!! You can definitely play around with different versions. My favorite actually happens to be peanut butter. Just make sure that whatever flavors you’re adding, you’re doing it before you add in the whipped cream (just so you don’t deflate the mixture). For the chocolate version, make sure the cocoa powder is cooked in the egg mixture since raw cocoa powder would make it a bit unpalatable. Enjoy!
Thank you for the cocoa powder tip! Do you recommend cocoa powder or melted semi-sweet chocolate? Peanut butter sounds awesome, how much do you put in it and does it need to be softened first? If adding fruit, like mango or strawberries, is it better to use chopped fruit or mashed/pureed fruit? Sorry for the questions! Just want to increase my chances of success when trying different flavors 🙂
I usually do cocoa powder with ice cream. For PB, I usually add about 2 tbsp of peanut butter. For fruit it’d probably better to do pureed because fruit chunks are hard to bite when frozen.
We made this last night and were so excited to try it, it was part of our breakfast this morning. OUTSTANDING and easy to make. I doubled the recipe and have a surprising amount of Icecream. I was concerned about the texture being “grainy” or “icy” but it is not! It’s smooth and creamy and better than store bought. Just an opinion but since you need vanilla beans (which can be expensive) don’t cheap out on the vanilla extract. Buy a good quality one …you’ll be glad you did as the flavor is so much more intense and pure. Thanks for the recipe!
Hi Gary, wonderful!!!! So glad you enjoyed the ice cream. And yes, it’s wonderful it’s super creamy!
I would love to try this – after looking at quite a few ice cream recipes (all without ice cream machine), yours look the simplest! Yours doesn’t require frequent stirring after putting in the freezer – which most other recipes say to do (in order to prevent build up of ice in the ice cream). So your ice cream still turns out creamy without stirring while freezing? Thanks for sharing!
Hi Emily, yes it’s very creamy, and what allows it to work is the egg yolks. No need to stir mid-freezing. Hope you give it a try!
Where do you get vanilla bean or paste?
SOO good! tried it tonight. Didn’t take 30 min to prepare… the longest thing was the wait – and it was definetly WORTH it. i didn’t have vanilla bean nor paste so i used more vanilla xtract – about 1-1/2 tbsp
Thank you!
That’s wonderful Francesca, glad you enjoyed it!!
I did this recipe and i only had Vanilla bean paste that 1 Tbsp equals to 1 whole vanilla bean. My family loved it so much they are already planning for me to do the next one. Excellent recipe would recommend.
Hi Maggy, I’m so happy to hear your family enjoyed this recipe! And yes, vanilla bean paste is a great substitute!
looks so delicious it’s hard to believe it’s so simple. i’ll give it a whirl.
OMG I can’t wait to try this!! THanks, Joanne!
My mom would make this and we called it “limber”. She used to freeze them in ice cube trays
Great job! Sounds delicious! I have an ice cream maker I got YEARS ago, but nice to know you can make it without!
If I got one as a gift I would definitely use it, but for now, there’s not enough room in my kitchen/I’d buy a few other things before I bought an ice cream machine. But one day I’ll get one!
Your ice cream looks wonderful!
How creative and yummy! I’m a vanilla freak, so this is something I could definitely get behind. I would never have tried to make ice cream on my own (with or without machine), but I think I could handle this!
OH…ice cream without a machine, that is exactly what I need, it’s very expensive to have one here in my country, so I never make ice cream at home…now I can try. Thanks Joanne…!!!
I’m so glad! Let me know how it goes =)
Joanne!!! This looks fantastic!! I can’t wait to try it… Thanks for thinking of us!! 🙂