* 2 1/3 heavy cream

* 2 tsp pure vanilla extract

* 3 large eggs

* 4 large egg yolks

* 1 tsp salt

* 1 cup sugar (of your preference, we use regular granulated sugar or will do a 1/2 and 1/2 blend of coconut sugar and regular sugar- just keep in mind coconut sugar is brown so it will color the ice cream)

1. Combine the milk and cream in a saucepan, bringing the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to low, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

2. Combine eggs, egg yolk, and sugar in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer or whisk, beat the ingredients together until the mixture is thick and smooth. It will turn a pale yellow color in about 1-2 minutes.

3. Scoop 1/2 cup of the hot milk mixture into the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream, whisking constantly. Once thoroughly combined, pour all of the egg mixture into the saucepan on the stove and stir to combine.

4. Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Side note: At this step, you’ve essentially made a delicious custard or crème anglaise. This is a technique often used for ice cream bases and can also be served as a sauce to drizzle over desserts like cakes, pies, or fruit.

5. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, stir in the vanilla, and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap placed directly on top of the custard, making sure it touches, so no film develops on the top of the mixture as it chills. Chill this in the fridge completely. Once it’s chilled, you can pour this into your Cuisinart ice cream maker, or a similar one, turn the machine on, and let it mix until thickened, about 15-20 minutes.

6. If you’re planning to add additional toppings, like the images here are from my Homemade Peach Ice Cream, I used 6 fresh finely chopped peaches and added those slowly into the ice cream mixture the remaining 5 minutes of it while it was in the machine, so it got slowly incorporated. You can do the same for any type of ice cream mixins, such as chocolate chips, crushed cookies, strawberries, caramel, and so on. The options are endless. If you want to make chocolate ice cream, though, you can follow this egg-free Cuisinart Chocolate Ice Cream recipe instead, it’s easier than trying to adapt this one.

Customizable Allergy-Friendly Options:

Dairy-Free: If you need a replacement for the milk and heavy cream, you can do a 1-1 ratio using any type of dairy-free alternative milk such as hemp, soy, rice, almond, coconut, etc. It will have a bit more of an icy texture, but the flavor will still be deliciously the same! You will want to add 2 tablespoons tapioca flour (also known as tapioca starch), or similar, in addition to the recipe, you can add it in at the beginning stage when bringing the mixture to a boil in a saucepan on the stove.

Egg-Free: If you need a recipe without eggs, Cuisinart has another very similar vanilla ice cream recipe. I think it’s just as good as the one I’ve shared above, but my husband prefers the egg-based custard type since that’s what he grew up with. I highly recommend just following this egg-free recipe instead.

Ice Cream Cones: I’m anaphylactic to peanuts and avoid facilities that use peanut ingredients, and it was a delight to find these Joy Ice Cream Cones, which they make in dedicated allergen-friendly facilities and have gluten-free ice cream cups and sugar cones. I find them in-store at my local Kroger grocery store.

Refined Sugar-Free: To make this recipe without refined sugar, you can add 1/2 cup of maple syrup + 1-2 drops of liquid stevia to replace the granulated sugar. Another option is using 1 cup of maple syrup as the only sweetener in the recipe. It will taste less sweet once the ice cream is frozen, so keep that in mind when sweetening it to your liking. I’ve also used coconut sugar as a 1-1 granulated white sugar replacement, and it tastes fantastic but will turn it a light brown color.

Depending on other food allergy needs, if you need to know about the allergens in the facilities of individual ingredients, I often shop at Trader Joe’s so I can call their product line to learn about what allergens are in the same facilities with ingredients. I list their contact information in my Resources section under the ‘7 Food Allergy Resources I Use Reguarly’ heading. For tapioca starch, which is the same as tapioca flour, if you are adding it, I use the brand Bob’s Red Mill due to my peanut allergy and it being a peanut-free facility.