Tonka Bean Ice Cream Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole milk
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 1 Tonka bean (plus extra for serving)
• 6 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Instructions

1. 1

   infuse milk: Place the milk and sea salt in a medium-sized pot. Grate the tonka bean using a fine grater (a Microplane works the best for this) into the pot. Heat the milk over medium-high heat until it is steaming but not boiling. Let the milk stand for 15 minutes to infuse.

2. 2

   Temper eggs: Whisk the egg yolks and sugar in a medium-sized bowl. Add a little of the warm milk to the egg yolks and stir it well to temper the eggs. (If you pour the eggs directly into the hot liquid you will end up with scrambled eggs. Tempering them with a little of the hot milk helps prevent this.)

3. 3

   make custard: Slowly add the tempered eggs to the warm milk while stirring constantly. Place the pot on medium-low heat and stir it constantly until it thickens. Remove the pot from the heat and stir in the heavy cream and vanilla.

4. 4

   Strain the custard through a fine-mesh sieve into a medium-sized bowl. (This is to get out any bits of eggs that might have scrambled on the bottom of your pot.)

5. 5

   Chill: Place the bowl in your fridge and give it a stir every 10 minutes or so until it is no longer hot, about a half hour. Leave it in your fridge until it is completely cold, at least 2 hours.

6. 6

   Churn the custard in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.

7. 7

   Serve: Transfer the ice cream to a freezer-proof container (like a loaf pan) and freeze it until firm. Grate a little extra tonka bean over top of the ice cream when you serve it.