This is a very rich and delicious ice cream, and I just lucked my way into discovering it. Basically it is a nice vanilla ice cream in which half of the sugar used is dark brown sugar, and a slightly larger amount than typical of xanthan gum powder is used. To cut to the chase I was experimenting and this one turned out to be great.
I hope you make it. You will be quite pleased. Also, if you do not have xanthan gum powder then buy it via the Internet. It is an important ice cream ingredient since commercial dairies cut the amount of butterfat in heavy cream to 36%.
Ingredients: (makes about 1½ quarts of ice cream)
2 jumbo eggs
2 cups of heavy cream
1/3 cup of white sugar
1/3 cup of dark brown sugar
1/4 cup of malted milk powder
1 1/2 cups of 4% butterfat milk (regular whole milk)
1 Madagascar (or other) vanilla bean pod
1 tablespoon of pure vanilla extract
1/3 tsp. of xanthan gum powder
Directions:
Cut the vanilla pod in half lengthwise and scrape all of the dark vanilla particles from the inside of each pod half, then set those particles aside in a small dish. Save the pod pieces for other uses, like putting them into a bowl of sugar to make vanilla sugar.
Use your electric mixer to beat the eggs on medium speed, then pause to add the sugars, the malted milk powder, the vanilla extract and the reserved vanilla particles and resume mixing. Mix thoroughly.
Slowly add the cream and then the milk while continuing to mix for one minute.
Sprinkle the xanthan gum powder lightly into the ice cream mixture while the mixer is running, then mix for an additional four minutes on medium speed.
Transfer the mixture to a gelato maker and turn it on. After about 25 minutes check the ice cream to see if it is fairly stiff. If necessary continue to run the gelato maker for an additional ten minutes.
Transfer the ice cream from the gelato maker into a good quality 1½ quart plastic container that has a tight fitting lid. Put the lid on the ice cream and put the container into a deep freeze for four to six hours.
The ice cream is then ready to serve. It is delicious!
Note that one easy way to soften hard frozen ice cream to make scooping easy is to put the ice cream container into the microwave oven and run it on high power for 15 seconds.
Enjoy!