French Crème Glacée à la Vanille (Custard Ice Cream)
The French way: a vanilla crème anglaise of milk and six egg yolks, cooked until it coats the spoon, finished with a little cream and churned.
By the late 1600s ices were a Paris fashion. The Victoria and Albert Museum dates the first Paris ice cream shop to 1670 and the first French recipe for flavored ices to Nicolas Lémery in 1674. Wikipedia says Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, born in Palermo, opened his café in Paris in 1686 and that hundreds of cafés serving ices followed. In 1768 a confectioner known only as M. Emy published "L'Art de bien faire les glaces d'office", the first book devoted entirely to ices and ice creams, with nearly 150 recipes (history only; the text is digitized by the Wellcome Collection). French ice cream today is built on crème anglaise, the cooked milk, egg yolk, sugar and vanilla custard that the Larousse Gastronomique lists as a base for ices. That custard is what Thomas Jefferson's handwritten recipe uses too (our Classic Vanilla Custard Ice Cream recipe).
🗳️ French custard or Philadelphia-style vanilla? Vote: French custard vs Philadelphia style →
Why it works the kitchen science
Yolks as the emulsifier
The cooked yolks thicken the milk and bind fat and water, so the ice cream is smooth and rich even though most of the liquid is milk.
Cream added cold at the end
It cools the hot custard at once, protecting the yolks from overcooking, and adds the last of the richness.
Step by step
- Step 1
Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Put the milk, half the sugar, the seeds and the pod in a saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Step 2
Whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar in a bowl until pale and thick, about 1 minute.
- Step 3
Whisk about a third of the hot milk into the yolks in a thin stream, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
- Step 4
Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula and scraping the bottom, until the custard reaches 170 to 175°F and coats the spatula (nappe: a finger drawn across the back leaves a clean line), 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Step 5
Off the heat, stir in the cold cream to stop the cooking. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice water and stir until cool, about 10 minutes. Discard the pod.
- Step 6
Press plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Step 7
Churn in an ice cream maker about 30 minutes, until thick. Pack into a chilled container, press parchment on the surface and freeze about 2 hours, until firm enough to scoop.
French Crème Glacée à la Vanille (Custard Ice Cream)
Serves 6 · about 3 cups · 30 min total
Crème anglaise
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 1/2 cup sugar (100 g), divided
- 1 vanilla bean
- 6 large egg yolks
To finish
- 2/3 cup heavy cream, cold
Method
- Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds. Put the milk, half the sugar, the seeds and the pod in a saucepan and bring just to a boil over medium heat, about 5 minutes. Take it off the heat.
- Whisk the yolks with the rest of the sugar in a bowl until pale and thick, about 1 minute.
- Whisk about a third of the hot milk into the yolks in a thin stream, then pour everything back into the saucepan.
- Cook over low heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula and scraping the bottom, until the custard reaches 170 to 175°F and coats the spatula (nappe: a finger drawn across the back leaves a clean line), 5 to 8 minutes. Do not let it boil.
- Off the heat, stir in the cold cream to stop the cooking. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a bowl set in ice water and stir until cool, about 10 minutes. Discard the pod.
- Press plastic wrap on the surface and refrigerate at least 4 hours, or overnight.
- Churn in an ice cream maker about 30 minutes, until thick. Pack into a chilled container, press parchment on the surface and freeze about 2 hours, until firm enough to scoop.
Adapted from Le Cordon Bleu's glace à la vanille, from the book "École du chocolat" (Le Cordon Bleu and Larousse), as published on Le Cordon Bleu's site: (6 yolks, 100 g sugar, 35 cl milk, 1 vanilla bean, 15 cl cream, 30 minutes in the machine). Converted to US measures: 35 cl is about 1 1/2 cups and 15 cl about 2/3 cup. Le Cordon Bleu gives no custard temperature and no chilling time; the 170 to 175°F target, the 4-hour chill and the freezing time are ours. Six servings follows the source recipe's portion count. Le Cordon Bleu. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (3)
Tips
- No thermometer: cook until the custard coats the spatula and your finger leaves a clean line that does not run back together.
- If the custard starts to look grainy, pour it straight into a cold bowl and whisk hard, then strain.
- Save the egg whites for meringues or an omelet; they keep 2 days refrigerated.
- Rinse and dry the used vanilla pod and bury it in a jar of sugar for vanilla sugar.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Procope brought ice cream to Paris. Disputed: Wikipedia credits Procopio dei Coltelli with introducing it in 1686, but the V&A dates the first Paris ice cream shop to 1670 and a French ices recipe to 1674.
- Catherine de' Medici brought ices to France in 1533. Folklore: Wikipedia calls this a legend and notes there is no evidence for it.
- Emy's 1768 book was the first ice cream book. Documented: the Boston Globe and rare-book catalogues call it the first book devoted entirely to ices (search results; the Wellcome Collection scan was not read in full).
- French ice cream always means egg yolks. Documented for US labeling: under 21 CFR 135.110 "French ice cream" or "frozen custard" must have at least 1.4% egg yolk solids.
Serve it with
Skillet Apple Crisp (One-Pan, About an Hour)
Apple wedges sautéed in butter in one ovensafe skillet and coated with reduced cider, covered with a pecan, oat and brown sugar crumble made with melted butter, and baked hot at 450°F for 15 to 20 minutes until the fruit is tender and the top deep golden.
Kladdkaka (Swedish Sticky Chocolate Cake)
Sweden's café favorite: a quick chocolate cake with no rising agent, baked just long enough to set the crust while the center stays gooey and sticky, served with whipped cream and berries.
Snickerdoodles
Soft, slightly cakey sugar cookies made tangy with cream of tartar, rolled in cinnamon sugar and baked hot until they crackle on top.
Every other ice cream
Fior di Latte Gelato (Italian Milk Gelato)
Italy's plainest gelato and the test of every gelateria: mostly milk, a little cream, no eggs, thickened with a spoonful of cornstarch and served softer and warmer than American ice cream.
Sicilian Lemon Granita with Brioche
Lemon juice, zest, sugar and water, frozen and scraped into fine ice the Sicilian way, served for breakfast with a soft brioche for dunking.
Turkish Dondurma (Stretchy Maraş-Style Ice Cream)
Milk and cream cooked with mastic resin and a starch thickener until it pulls in ribbons, churned, frozen in a loaf and sliced, with cinnamon and pistachios.
Indian Matka Kulfi (Saffron and Almond)
Whole milk boiled down to a third of its volume, sweetened, scented with saffron and cardamom, studded with almonds and frozen still in small clay pots, never churned.
Japanese Matcha Ice Cream
An eggless green tea ice cream that tastes like Japan's, not America's: earthy, sweet and a little bitter, with a generous five tablespoons of matcha.
Mexican Mango Paletas
Ripe mango, a squeeze of lime and a spoonful of sugar blended and frozen on a stick: the fruit paleta that made a Michoacán village famous.
Filipino Ube Ice Cream
Purple yam cooked down with condensed milk into a quick ube halaya, then whisked with coconut milk and churned into a violet, egg-free ice cream.
Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream
The American eggless ice cream: cream, milk, sugar and vanilla stirred together cold, chilled and churned, with nothing cooked and nothing to temper.
Classic Vanilla Custard Ice Cream (Jefferson's Recipe, Updated)
The rich American vanilla: a cream-heavy custard with five yolks cooked to 170 to 175°F, the same idea as the recipe Thomas Jefferson wrote out by hand.
Bittersweet Chocolate Ice Cream
A dark, dense chocolate custard ice cream made with six yolks and six ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate, blended smooth before it chills.
The Classic Banana Split
A banana split lengthwise around scoops of vanilla, chocolate and strawberry ice cream, topped with pineapple, strawberry and chocolate sauces, whipped cream, peanuts and cherries.
The Hot Fudge Sundae
Vanilla ice cream under a warm, glossy hot fudge made with butter, unsweetened chocolate and Dutch cocoa, finished with whipped cream, toasted nuts and a cherry.
The Root Beer Float (Black Cow)
Two big scoops of vanilla ice cream in a frosted mug, very cold root beer poured slowly over the top until the foam rises.
Weeknight No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
No machine and no eggs: cold cream, condensed milk and milk powder whipped glossy in a food processor in about 15 minutes, then left to freeze.
Frozen Custard Concrete with Cookies and Fudge, Inspired by Shake Shack
A rich vanilla frozen custard, churned and frozen firm, then mashed with crushed chocolate sandwich cookies and fudge into a concrete so thick you can turn the cup upside down.
Meatballs of the World
Italian-American Meatballs
Big, tender meatballs braised for an hour in red sauce over spaghetti. The one most Americans grew up with.
Pallottine (Abruzzo Meatballs)
Tiny meatballs, smaller than a marble, tossed right through square spaghetti alla chitarra. No bread at all.
Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)
Small, soft meatballs browned in butter, in a cream sauce made from the same pan, with lingonberry jam on the plate.
Danish Frikadeller
Pork meatballs shaped with a spoon and fried slowly in butter, crusty outside and soft in the middle.
Königsberger Klopse
German meatballs that are never fried: poached, then served in a creamy white sauce with capers.
Spanish Albóndigas in Almond Saffron Sauce
The tapas bar classic: small meatballs in a golden sauce thickened with fried almonds and bread.
Mexican Albóndigas with Chipotle and Mint
Soft meatballs with rice and fresh mint inside, simmered in a smoky tomato and chipotle broth.
Izgara Köfte (Turkish Grilled Meatballs)
Small, flat meatballs kneaded hard, rested cold, and charred on a hot grill pan.
Lion's Head Meatballs
Big, soft pork meatballs, stirred into a sticky paste, fried to set, then braised in a savory sauce.
Chicken Tsukune
Japan's chicken meatball: kneaded sticky, grilled on skewers, glazed with sweet soy tare, dipped in egg yolk.