July BSFIC: Condensed Milk Vanilla Ice Cream

Just to let you know, this post was written before I started the paleo diet to help ease my psoriasis. Nowadays I eat a more allergy-friendly diet, but leave these older, non-paleo posts up in case they are useful to readers, as I know not everyone eats the same as I do. Thanks for your understanding. 

The theme for this month's Bloggers Scream for Ice Cream challenge is condensed milk. Now I'm used to whipping up ice creams from double cream, milk, eggs and sugar - but there are actually a few bonuses for making it with condensed milk:

1. You don't need an ice cream maker, as whipping the cream beforehand incorporates air, making it fluffy and silky.
2. The condensed milk adds a slight toffee-ish quality to the finished ice cream, which is especially delicious and gives it an interesting twist.
3. Because you're using thicker, condensed milk instead of just milk, your ice cream ends up super-thick, really decadent and no match for the ice creams you buy from the supermarket freezer.
4. Because you are not pouring warmed milk over raw egg yolks, you don't have to worry about things like eggs scrambling; you don't even need to turn on the hob. And for anyone worried about eggs, the recipe doesn't contain any!

Give it a try - the recipe below makes a largish tub - about 600mls at least. And because it's richer, you need less of it. Or that's the theory anyway.

Because of the flavour of the condensed milk, I decided to make my ice cream with a vanilla flavour. We often pass vanilla ice cream off as something to go with apple pie or in a milkshake but we often don't refer to it to be enjoyed in its own right, as we do say, chocolate or strawberry ice cream. But this just goes to show that if you use quality ingredients, even a very basic-flavoured ice cream can be enjoyed without any of the other embellishments. I wanted the toffee flavour of the condensed milk to come through, and here it really does. I hope you like it.

Super Thick Vanilla Ice Cream

Ingredients:

• 397g can condensed milk
• 300ml double cream
• 300ml extra thick double cream
• 1 vanilla pod

Method:

1. Pour the double cream and the extra thick double cream into a large bowl. Split the vanilla pod in half and scrape out the seeds, adding these to the bowl. Save the empty pod for flavouring your sugar, don't waste it!
2. Using an electric whisk, whisk the cream and vanilla seeds until the cream thickens, but before it reaches stiff peaks.
3. Pour in the condensed milk and whisk again for a few minutes, just until it thickens again.
4. Pour and scrape the mixture into a freezable container and freeze for at least 3 hours, or until firm. Take out of the freezer a few minutes before serving, so it becomes scoopable.

Have you ever made ice cream using condensed milk? How was it? What did you make?