Grandma’s Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, we earn from qualifying purchases.
Grandma’s Homemade Ice Cream is a custard-style vanilla frozen treat the entire family will enjoy. This old fashioned ice cream recipe is sure to take you right back to your childhood.
Old Fashioned Homemade Vanilla Ice Cream Recipe
Written in her beautiful cursive script on a simple white lined note card, Barbara keeps a copy of this old fashioned ice cream recipe in our grandma’s wooden recipe box. Some families have jewelry, old portraits, vases, or crystal, but our family heirlooms include all of Grandma’s favorite recipes.
The flavor of this homemade vanilla ice cream is amazing and unique with a thick, rich custard texture that is unlike the ice cream you buy in the stores.
Old Fashioned Ice Cream Ingredients:
Eggs
Flour
Sugar
Milk
Vanilla
Half and Half
Grandma’s Homemade Ice Cream
This vanilla ice cream recipe is the only one you will ever need. Our grandma called it Cooked Ice Cream as it is an egg-based mixture that you need to cook on the stovetop.
On thing to note is to be sure to temper the egg mixture before adding it to the hot milk mixture to prevent cooking the beaten eggs.
When it comes to what ice cream maker should you use, oh, there are so, so many options! Barbara uses one of the small countertop models but growing up we had one of those great electric wooden bucket ice cream makers that dad packed full of ice and salt as it cranked away.
How to Make Old Fashioned Homemade Ice Cream with Raw Eggs
For the full recipe for old fashioned ice cream, scroll to the bottom of this post.
- Combine flour and sugar.
- Warm whole milk slowly in a saucepan on the stove.
- Once hot, add flour and sugar mixture, while stirring constantly until it begins to thicken.
- Beat the eggs; temper with a small amount of the warm milk mixture.
- Once tempered, add all the eggs to the warm milk mixture.
- Cook, stirring constantly until it thickens.
- Remove from heat until completely cooled.
- Once cooled, stir in vanilla.
- Pour the cooled mixture into a ice cream freezer; add half and half until approximately 1 inch from the top of the ice cream freezer.
- Freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Eat immediately or freeze if a firmer texture is desired.
- We recommend topping this old fashioned homemade vanilla ice cream with Grandma’s famous Old-Fashioned Hot Fudge Sauce.
Grandma's Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons flour
- 3 ½ cups sugar
- 1 quart whole milk
- 8 to 10 eggs beaten
- vanilla to taste up to one Tablespoon
- 1 pint half and half or heavy whipping cream
- 3 quarts whole milk may not need it all
Instructions
- Mix flour and sugar.
- Put 1 quart of whole milk in saucepan on stove to warm.
- When hot, add sugar mixture, stirring constantly until it starts to thicken.
- Add beaten eggs to hot milk mixture, tempering the egg mixture first to prevent cooking the beaten eggs.
- Cook, stirring constantly until mixture thickens like a custard.
- Remove from heat and cool completely.
- Once cooled, add vanilla to taste - up to 1 Tablespoon.
- Add to ice cream freezer insert.
- Add pint of heavy cream or half and half to about an inch from the top. You may need to add additional whole milk to fill your container depending on its size.
- Freeze per the instructions for your ice cream freezer.
- Eat right away or freeze to get a firmer texture.
Notes
- After adding the cooled ice cream mixture to your ice cream freezer, you need to add 1 pint of heavy whipping cream (that’s our recommendation) or half and half. If this doesn’t fill the container to about an inch from the top, add whole milk until it does.
WHAT DOES TEMPER MEAN? Do you just add a little hot mixture in with the eggs to warm them up or something else?
Instead of pouring the eggs into the hot milk mixture, just add a very small amount of the hot liquid into the eggs while constantly whisking the eggs. Continue slowly adding the hot milk while whisking the eggs and after a few moments you can safely add the remaining hot liquid. Adding the hot liquid slowly will gradually bring up the temperature of the eggs without scrambling them.
Thank you for posting recipes for real cooks using real ingredients and no package mixes.
You are welcome, though we aren’t opposed to a mix once in a while!
How much vanilla should you add and when do you add it? I didn’t see it in the recipe. Thanks! 🙂
We don’t use vanilla in this recipe. If you choose to add it, we’d do it after you cream the butter and sugar.
Thanks Megan 🙂 I saw vanilla in the list of ingredients both on your page and also in the handwritten recipe and assumed that it was used it in the mix somewhere.
Lynn – I’m so sorry…I was answering a bunch of questions about the peach batter cake and didn’t look what recipe you were looking at! I’m checking!!
So…add up to one Tablespoon (Grandma added 2-3 “capfuls”) to taste after it’s cooled and before you add the mixture to the ice cream insert. So sorry for the confusion!
It is so funny as I read this it makes me think of the last time we made homemade ice cream …when the hubby ask how much vanilla …I said 2 cap fulls!!!! Love it!!
You mean, people actually measure vanilla without the cap?
Your recipe calls for 1 gallon of milk but you only heated a quart in the instructions I got confuse. Am I useing a gallon or a quart of milk.
Sorry about that. We’ve updated the post. You cook one quart and then once cooled, you add the half and half or heavy whipping cream. If that doesn’t fill up the container, you’ll need to add more milk.