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14 Jun Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Two days ago I graduated from high school and yesterday I had my graduation reception at home in our garden. It was the warmest day of the year so far and I think that everyone had a great time. I’ve been baking every single day during this week to prepare for the reception and I baked sourdough bread rolls, seed crackers, rhubarb crumbles and carrot cakes. At first I thought I was going to keep it simple and only make one dessert(rhubarb crumble because it’s so easy!) and no bread at all for the main but I’m an obsessed person and I couldn’t stop baking, or rather stop thinking about different things to bake. Hopefully this will’ve made me tired of baking and keep me abstinence free when I’m going to France tomorrow.

(Last week we had our prom and my friend Linawho’s a great photographer, took some beautiful photos of us. If you click on the link you can see me, I’m wearing a red dress with lace and an open back.)

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We celebrated mother’s day in Sweden a couple of weeks ago and I made this ice cream for my mom. I followed David Lebovitz’ recipe the first time I made it but it was a little bit too sweet for my taste. Even my little sister (who’s the queen of sugar) mentioned that the ice cream was too sweet so when I made it again I reduced the amount of sugar and substituted it with raw cane sugar and honey. I didn’t want to rely solely on honey as a sweetener because the flavor can be a little bit too intense and steal the spotlight from the vanilla. After all, this is a vanilla bean ice cream. It’s also important to use real sugar to get the right texture on the ice cream. You want it to be super smooth and it should melt in your mouth as soon as it touches your tongue. If this sounds like the ice cream of your dreams this recipe will not disappoint you.

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Vanilla Bean Ice Cream

Yield: About 1 quart (1l)

Ingredients

  • 1 cup (250ml) whole milk
  • A pinch of salt
  • 40 g honey
  • 75 g raw cane sugar
  • 1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
  • 2 cups (500ml) heavy cream
  • 5 large (or 6 small) egg yolks
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

  1. Heat milk, salt, honey and raw cane sugar in a saucepan and scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the milk with a paring knife. Then add the bean pod to the milk. Cover and remove from heat. Infuse for one hour.
  2. To make the ice cream, set up an ice bath by placing a 2-quart (2l) bowl in a larger bowl partially filled with ice and water. Pour the cream into the bowl through a strainer.
  3. In a separate bowl, stir together the egg yolks. Rewarm the milk then gradually pour some of the milk into the yolks, whisking constantly as you pour. Scrape the warmed yolks and milk back into the saucepan.
  4. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly and scraping the bottom with a heat-resistant spatula, until the custard is thick enough to coat the spatula.
  5. Pour the custard through a strainer into the heavy cream. Stir over the ice until cool, add the vanilla extract and then refrigerate to chill thoroughly, preferably overnight.
  6. Remove the vanilla bean and freeze the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
  7. Serve with fresh strawberries. Enjoy!

Notes

Adapted from David Lebovitz' book "The perfect scoop". The original recipe uses 150 g caster sugar instead of raw cane sugar and honey.


 

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Fun facts about Swedish graduations:

  1. All the graduates wear white caps with their names on and the color of the crystal represents which program you studied. Mine’s green because I studied natural sciences.
  2. We run out of our school, then sing this song and finally we get to meet our family and friends who gives us “necklaces” with silly animals, plastic horns and flowers.
  3. Your family makes a big placard with a picture of you as a child, which I’m holding on the picture above.
  4. Last but not least, all the students drive around town on a big truck pouring/spraying beer over each other while dancing to really loud music. It’s weird, don’t ask. Watch this clip instead.
18 Comments
  • Natasa | My daily sourdough bread
    Posted at 21:49h, 14 June

    Congratulations, Thea!

    And the perfect timing for ice cream – I’ve been just thinking how to make it with vanilla bean. Thank you for the recipe – do you think I could replace the milk with almond milk, have you tried it? And how can I make the ice cream without the icecream maker? Do you think the freezing could do – with occasional mixing to break the crystals?

    Enjoy the summer!

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 22:59h, 14 June

      Thanks Natasa! 🙂 If you want a dairy free alternativ I’d recomend using coconut milk and cream insted of the cows milk and cream used in the recipe. The texture of the ice cream wont be as smooth and silky if using almond milk. You can try freezing it and mixing with an electric mixer every 30-45 min until set. I’ve tried this in the past and although it works, it’s a little bit fussy.

  • Abby
    Posted at 00:47h, 15 June

    Thea!!! Congratulations!

    Those facts about Swedish graduations were actually very fun to read… they’re different from American ones, that’s for sure. I much prefer your hats over ours hahah.

    And this ice cream looks incredible! Your photos are stunning. xx

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 21:46h, 15 June

      Thanks Abby! I know, the traditions differ quite a lot 😉

  • Ania
    Posted at 03:29h, 15 June

    Dear Thea
    Congratulations on your graduation and have a fabulous trip to France. Looking forward to more recipes on your return.
    ⭐️

  • Hannah
    Posted at 14:18h, 15 June

    Ahhh such an exciting time! Swedish graduation sounds like loads of fun 🙂 what’s next? I suppose everyone must be asking you that question right about now!
    This ice cream looks INSANELY creamy and delicious. And those strawberries are precious.

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 21:47h, 15 June

      Thanks Hannah! I do have some plans but I don’t want to jinx them.. 😉

  • Katie | Spiced with Sky
    Posted at 22:19h, 15 June

    Congratulations! Graduation is an exciting and exhilarating time, but also a daunting time of great change and big decisions. For myself, I’m glad that I have one more year to go 🙂 Swedish graduations seem like so much more fun than here in North America.
    This vanilla ice cream looks absolutely delicious – I love the addition of honey to add some depth of flavour without being overwhelming. Your photographs are also so simple but beautiful.

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 17:15h, 16 June

      Thanks Katie! But I’m kind of jealous of your caps and gowns 😉

  • Josefine
    Posted at 22:53h, 15 June

    Congratulations on graduating!! Hope you’ve had a wonderful free time so far. I will graduate high school in a little more than a week, so it is so funny to hear about the traditions in Sweden. The one about the cap and the truck are almost the same as in Denmark, but I’ve never heard about the singing, animal necklaces or big pictures – so funny! I love those traditions.
    Also – you look absolutely gorgeous in those pictures!
    Oh and what a wonderful ice cream – pinned!

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 17:16h, 16 June

      Thanks Josefine! Hope you’ll enjoy your graduation! 🙂

  • Renee Kemps
    Posted at 23:45h, 16 June

    CONGRATULATIONS!!!! And you’re so pretty! Love the hat and the red lace dress! + this recipe is mind blowing. MMM!

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 14:29h, 17 June

      Thanks Renee! You’re so sweet!

  • Anne
    Posted at 06:13h, 20 June

    Omg congratualations Thea!!!! You look absolutely gorgeous in that dress!
    I think you just described my graduation reception… Except I have a feeling I’m going to be baking even more than you! Oh and those fun facts are really interesting! You guys def do more stuff as a graduating class than we do here in America….
    And this ice cream looks amazing!!! I mean, vanilla will never get old and summer will probably not get cold, right? I need to make this asap!

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 11:33h, 20 June

      Thanks Anne!! Hope you’ll try the recipe 🙂

  • Ann Ann
    Posted at 14:10h, 10 July

    Big Congratulations! Felicitaciones, Thea! Love your blog and your recipes, I really enjoy learning little bits about your culture, it is specially refreshing to hear from someone young. Usually I skip the story part in a post and jump right to the recipe, but I love your writing. Best wishes in your future career, Maria {Ann is my nome de plume}

    • Thea Tillberg
      Posted at 16:21h, 10 July

      Thanks Ann for your sweet words! This made my day 🙂