To Egg or Not to Egg—This is the Question

Vanilla Ice Cream With Eggs by Ice Cream and Inspiration. Do you prefer vanilla ice cream with eggs or without? Read my observations, then come to your own conclusions.

It was a clear night. The full moon was brilliant in the ebony sky. The whispery wind gently moved the toilet paper like gossamer strings of silk laid by an enormous spider.

Yes, I said toilet paper. My friends and I had just “TPed” the house of our mutual object of (perhaps unwanted) affection. Would we be discovered? Caught in the act? Our secret desire was that the boy would know it was us, and would reciprocate with toilet paper of his own. (Wait, this is starting to sound weird).

Reciprocate he did, but in a very unexpected way. You see, we lived in Washington State. The rainy side. Toilet paperings often ended up to be messy affairs, once the treed toilet paper was doused in a rainy downfall. Besides, the continual back-and-forth of toilet papering was all becoming too cliché for someone as agile-minded as he. Imagine my surprise when I awoke one morning to find white plastic forks stuck all over in my lawn. “Brilliant!” I thought! “He has killed not only two, but three birds with one stone!” Bird number one: indication of appreciation of my efforts (and those of my friends who assisted me) in toilet papering his house. Bird number two: eradicating the soggy toilet paper conundrum. Bird number three: being able to spell cryptic or witty words with forks (something that is more difficult to do with toilet paper in trees). As an added bonus, we did not have to purchase plastic forks for three years.

Some people, who are more mean-spirited and less-inventive than our youthful selves, resort to “egging” others. They throw eggs at cars or windows. Or people. Eggs are not meant to be thrown. Eggs are meant to be eaten, in myriad forms. But the real question I pose today is, do eggs belong in ice cream? Are they necessary? Do they make ice cream better? To answer this question, I made vanilla ice cream with eggs.

These are my conclusions:

1. Making ice cream with eggs takes a lot more time and skill. One must heat milk which they then add slowly to eggs. Then the tempered eggs must be added back to the heated milk and stirred until a custard forms. Then this mixture must be chilled for several hours. From start to (soft-serve) finish, this process takes well over four hours. With my Classic Vanilla Ice Cream, that time is cut to 30 minutes.

2. I personally prefer the flavor and texture of ice cream made without eggs. I don’t really like “frozen custard.” I want ice cream, not pudding.

Happily, since I prefer to do as little work as possible, it is no tragedy to me that I don’t like eggs in my ice cream. You don’t need them, people. Ice cream can be so much more simple. Therefore, you will never find an ice cream recipe with eggs in it on my site. Except for the one below, just in case you don’t believe me and want to come to your own conclusions.

I recommend the Cuisinart ICE-21 1.5 Quart Frozen Yogurt-Ice Cream Maker

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Vanilla Ice Cream With Eggs

Author: Melissa Howell

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups whole milk
• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
• 2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs
• 3 large egg yolks
• 3/4 cup sugar

Instructions

1. Put the sugar, eggs, and egg yolks in a medium-sized bowl, or in a stand mixer. Beat on medium speed for about two minutes, until the mixture is pale yellow, smooth and thick.
2. Put the milk and cream in a medium pan on the stove. Barely bring the mixture to a boil, then remove from heat.
3. Pour one cup of the hot milk and cream into a liquid measuring cup. Turn the mixer back on to medium-low speed for the eggs and sugar, and slowly pour the hot milk/cream mixture into the eggs. When thoroughly mixed, pour that entire mixture into the rest of the milk/cream mixture on the stove. Turn the heat on to medium-low, and stir constantly until mixture thickens and can coat the back of a spoon.
4. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap placed directly on the custard, and chill completely for several hours.
5. When completely chilled, remove from refrigerator and add to your ice cream maker and follow the manufacturer's directions. Transfer to an airtight container and freeze for several hours.