Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Ice Cream Recipe

I’m a big fan of vanilla – vanilla ice cream, vanilla frosting, vanilla extract, vanilla flavored – ok, not gonna go all Bubba Gump here. I like vanilla. So when I had a little bit of buttermilk left over from making Creole cream cheese, I figured it was time to make more buttermilk ice cream, and break out some of those vanilla bean pods I’ve been hoarding.

I used the Basil Buttermilk Ice Cream recipe as inspiration, with a couple of tweaks, starting with No Basil. But I did open a new vanilla bean pod and scrape the beans into the milk/sugar mixture, brought it to a simmer, then turned off the gas and let it steep for 30 minutes, like I did with the basil. Couldn’t hurt, right? I will say – scraping vanilla beans is dirty business, and you end up with the inside of the pods all over everything, and under fingernails and such. What a waste!! I tried like heck to get it all in the milk and off the spatulas and the cutting board. The Kitchn Blog weighs in on the best way to scrape the beans from the pod, but neglects to mention that thing about the beans under the fingernails, which makes your hands smell great.

Here’s the photo of my Loch Ness Monster (vanilla pod) poking his head out of the milk, from several months ago.

I used less buttermilk than I did in the basil ice cream, hoping to cut down on the meltiness of it. I think I succeeded. Here’s the tweak.

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Vanilla Bean Buttermilk Ice Cream Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 3/4 cup whole milk
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 3 ounces (6 tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
• pinch salt
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
• 1 cup buttermilk

Instructions

1

Add some of the milk to the cornstarch in a small bowl, creating a slurry

2

Put the cream cheese in a heat proof bowl, whisk with salt (I microwave the cream cheese for 15 seconds to soften it)

3

Add the rest of the milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup to a heavy saucepan

4

Slice a vanilla bean pod in half lengthwise, and using a spoon or the blunt edge of a knife, scrape the beans into the milk/sugar mixture; add the bean pod to the mix too

5

Bring the milk/sugar/vanilla mix to a simmer

6

Remove from heat, cover and steep/infuse for 30 minutes

7

Return to heat, and bring to a boil - boil for 4 minutes

8

Remove from heat and remove the vanilla bean pod

9

Whisk in cornstarch slurry and return to heat and boil until thickened, about 1 minute

10

Pour the base into the bowl with the cream cheese, whisking to incorporate

11

Add the buttermilk, whisk again to incorporate

12

Chill - I put it in the fridge overnight instead of an ice bath

13

Churn - I churned for 30 minutes

Notes

This recipe follows Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream methods.

The cream cheese and vanilla salt (I doubled the recipe so it looks like a lot) post-whisking.

There are two ways to substitute buttermilk (create a buttermilk-kind of milk): 1 cup milk + 1 Tablespoon lemon juice (or vinegar) (stir and wait 2 minutes); 3/4 cup yogurt + 1/4 cup milk. There may actually be more than 2, that’s just the 2 I’ve found.