The Best Vanilla Ice Cream

Summertime is one of my favorite times of the year to go out and find the best Vanilla Ice Cream. I love all flavors of ice cream, but a scoop of true pure vanilla is the ultimate sophisticated dessert. Vanilla ice cream is available everywhere, so how do you decide which one is right for you?

I started my quest for the best by strolling down the frozen food aisle in my local grocery store. The cartons claimed "creamiest", "old fashion", "slow churn", "natural", "fat free" and much more. I have no idea what most of those statements mean. I do know that low fat ice cream sounds to good to be true so I skipped right over it. I would rather eat a little less of the good stuff then load up on inferior ice cream.

In order to determine what all those claims meant on the cartons, I turned them over to the list of ingredients. Typically, ice cream is made from: milk, cream, sugar, eggs and flavoring (like vanilla, chocolate or fruit). I was amazed to see a list of ingredients on the side. Most commercial brands had high fructose corn syrup, artificial flavorings and a whole list of chemicals most individuals can not pronounce or know what they mean. I decided to give up on the grocery store and head to the local parlors.



Luckily, I live in a populated area that has many local and chain outlets. The chain outlets offer several variations ranging from frozen custard, frozen yogurt, soft serve and hard ice cream. Most of these are mass produced and no different from the grocery store offerings.

I did enjoy sampling several different varieties from the local parlors but even those ranged in quality. The smaller parlors served locally made ice cream made with all natural ingredients and milk from cows not given the bovine growth hormone (rBGH). These stores did provide the best store bought product available. Unfortunately, they did carry a hefty price for a scoop.

So my next choice was to see if I could make a healthy, rich creamy vanilla ice cream at home. I knew I only needed a few ingredients so it couldn't be that hard. I found the most important part of the process was having good quality ingredients and the right tools.

To get the best vanilla flavor, I opted for whole vanilla beans and fresh milk and cream from a local dairy. When they dairy found out what I was up to, they gave me great advice and I toured their facility. It was quite a process and started wondering if I could handle all the steps needed to produce the ultimate vanilla ice cream that I dream about daily.

My next step was to find a good quality ice cream maker. I did find an old fashion maker at a local antique store. I was quite intrigued by it but knew it would be a lot of work and time to churn it by hand. I decided an electric machine would serve my purpose and I found the right machine at my favorite on- line cooking store, Chef Depot.

When I received my new machine I was so excited to get started. I carefully measured all the ingredients and scrapped the vanilla beans out of the pod and mixed them in thoroughly. The whole house filled with the aroma from the beans. I was so anxious to taste my creation; I couldn't even wait until after dinner.

I was truly surprised how creamy and delicious it was and that I made it. I decided I needed to make a larger batch next time and share it at my next family gathering. Vanilla ice cream is one of the true pleasures in life!