Active Time

　　20 minutes

　　Total Time

　　4 hours

　　Carl Taplin of Gott's Island, Maine, writes: "Every summer, I look forward to homemade vanilla ice cream. Do you have a favorite recipe for it?"

　　

Ingredients

Makes about 1 1/2 quart

　　2 cups heavy cream

　　1 cup whole milk

　　3/4 cup sugar

　　1/8 teaspoon salt

　　3 vanilla beans, split lengthwise

　　2 large eggs

　　

Special Equipment

an instant-read thermometer

　　

Step 1

Combine cream, milk, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla beans with tip of a knife into cream mixture, then drop in pods. Heat cream mixture just to a boil.

　　

Step 2

Whisk eggs in a large bowl, then add hot cream mixture in a slow stream, whisking. Pour mixture into saucepan and cook over moderately low heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and registers 170°F on thermometer (do not let boil).

　　

Step 3

Pour custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a clean metal bowl, then cool, stirring occasionally. Chill, covered, until cold, at least 3 hours.

　　

Step 4

Freeze custard in an ice cream maker. Transfer to an airtight container and put in freezer.

　　Cooks' notes:

　　·To cool custard quickly after straining, set bowl in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir until chilled. ·Custard can be chilled up to 24 hours.