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.
Philadelphia-style means ice cream made without eggs. TASTE's Max Falkowitz says the name has little to do with the city's dairies and refers instead to Philadelphia's long reputation for fine foods, including ice cream; it was meant as a contrast to rich, yolk-heavy "French" ice cream, and eggless ice cream is still the norm in the Northeast while custard rules the Midwest. The Franklin Fountain's history traces the style through Philadelphia makers: Augustus Jackson, a Black chef who had cooked at the White House, built a catering and ice cream business in the city in the 1820s; Louis Dubois Bassett began making ice cream in 1861; and William Breyer started hand-cranking it in his Kensington kitchen in 1866. It adds that until about 1900 the city's usual flavors were vanilla and lemon, and that the black vanilla specks some visitors took for dirt were a mark of quality. Who first made it is DISPUTED (see Rules).
🇺🇸 This one is American
The American eggless ice cream: cream, milk, sugar and vanilla stirred together cold, chilled and churned, with nothing cooked and nothing to temper.
🇮🇹 The original
Italian gelato is churned slowly from milk with less cream and less air than American ice cream, so it is denser and served a little warmer. See the Fior di Latte Gelato (Italian Milk Gelato) recipe.
🗳️ Italian gelato or American ice cream? Vote: Gelato vs American ice cream → 🗳️ French custard or Philadelphia-style vanilla? Vote: French custard vs Philadelphia style →
Why it works the kitchen science
No eggs, so no cooking
Dissolving the sugar cold means the base is ready to chill at once, and the flavor is pure cream and vanilla.
Cream plus milk
Williams-Sonoma warns that heavy cream alone has so much butterfat it can turn flaky or grainy; a cup of milk keeps it smooth.
Step by step
- Step 1
Stir the cream and milk together in a bowl. Add the sugar and salt and whisk 3 to 4 minutes, until the sugar dissolves; rub a drop between your fingers and keep whisking if it feels gritty. Stir in the vanilla.
- Step 2
Set the bowl in a larger bowl half full of ice and water and let it chill 30 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Step 3
Press plastic wrap on the surface, cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Step 4
Churn in an ice cream maker (at least 1-quart capacity) until thick, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Step 5
Serve soft straight from the machine for the mildest flavor, or pack into a container and freeze at least 3 hours for a firmer scoop and fuller flavor.
Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream
Serves 6 · about 1 quart · 10 min total
Ice cream base
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup whole milk
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp pure vanilla extract (or the seeds of 1 vanilla bean)
- Pinch of fine salt
Method
- Stir the cream and milk together in a bowl. Add the sugar and salt and whisk 3 to 4 minutes, until the sugar dissolves; rub a drop between your fingers and keep whisking if it feels gritty. Stir in the vanilla.
- Set the bowl in a larger bowl half full of ice and water and let it chill 30 to 45 minutes, stirring now and then.
- Press plastic wrap on the surface, cover and refrigerate at least 3 hours, or up to 24 hours.
- Churn in an ice cream maker (at least 1-quart capacity) until thick, 20 to 25 minutes.
- Serve soft straight from the machine for the mildest flavor, or pack into a container and freeze at least 3 hours for a firmer scoop and fuller flavor.
Adapted from Williams-Sonoma's "Philadelphia-Style Vanilla Ice Cream", from Melanie Barnard's Williams-Sonoma book "Frozen Desserts" (Simon & Schuster, 2006): (2 cups heavy cream, 1 cup milk, 3/4 cup sugar, 1 tbsp vanilla extract; whisk 3 to 4 minutes to dissolve the sugar, ice bath 30 to 45 minutes, refrigerate 3 to 24 hours, churn, freeze at least 3 hours; about 1 quart, 6 servings). The churning time is ours. Williams Sonoma. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
Tips
- Eat it within a day or two; Williams-Sonoma says eggless ice cream turns grainy quickly and is best within 12 hours of freezing.
- Use vanilla bean seeds for the classic Philadelphia speckles.
- Make sure the sugar is fully dissolved before chilling; undissolved sugar makes it gritty.
- For lemon, the city's other old flavor, steep the zest of 2 lemons in the base overnight and strain before churning (our variation).
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Augustus Jackson invented Philadelphia-style ice cream. Disputed: Cook's Country (America's Test Kitchen, 2023) credits him, citing Adrian Miller's case, and calls him the "father of ice cream", but it notes there is debate and that many people credit Dolley Madison instead.
- The name comes from Philadelphia's dairies or cream cheese. Folklore: TASTE says it refers to the city's reputation for quality foods.
- Philadelphia makers refused eggs to keep it pure. Documented as the Franklin Fountain's account: makers such as Bassett's and Breyers made ice cream without yolks, and custard makers were accused of using "additives".
- Benjamin Franklin invented ice cream. Folklore: the Franklin Fountain says no evidence supports it.
Serve it with
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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
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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.
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
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The Root Beer Float (Black Cow)
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Weeknight No-Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
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