Vanilla ice cream
Vanilla ice cream is a hit all year round and with people of all ages. The sweet and intense vanilla pairs perfectly with ice-cold and smooth sensation. Here, we have chosen to pair the ice cream with a slightly tart fruit and a crunchy element, resulting in a combination perfect for late summer and early autumn, when ripe plums are queuing up. The plums taste great with homemade vanilla ice cream, and our buckwheat brittle is a welcome and delicious innovation that works wonderfully as a crispy topping to vanilla-flavoured ice cream.
Ingredients
Vanilla ice cream
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½ l
Double cream
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3
Egg yolks
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60 g
Sugar (approx. ¾ dl)
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1
Vanilla pod - seeds
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Baked plums:
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200 ml
Apple juice
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3 tbsp
Sugar
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300 g
Plums, cut in halves
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Buckwheat brittle:
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3 tbsp
Sugar
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100 g
Whole buckwheat
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Instructions
Vanilla ice cream:
Baked plums:
Buckwheat brittle:
Tips
If you do not have small moulds in your kitchen, you can also use a bigger mould (approx. 1 litre) to create a wonderful vanilla ice cream dessert. You should still follow the recipe but remember to stir the ice cream 4-5 times during freezing.
Tips
For a fancier look when serving your vanilla ice cream from a larger mould for guests, arrange the ice cream in a quenelle. A quenelle is an oblong scoop of ice cream made using two spoons, the restaurant standard for serving ice cream. Dip the spoons in hot water and use them to gather an appropriate amount of ice cream. Pass this from one spoon to the other until you have a three sided 'oval' to place on your dessert plates. For an easier serving, make the quenelles ahead. Just put the quenelles onto a plastic board that fits into your freezer and take them out 5 minutes before serving.
Questions about vanilla ice cream
Enjoying a lovely and elegant-looking dessert consisting of vanilla ice cream, plums, and buckwheat brittle is easily achieved with our easy recipe and tips on how to make homemade vanilla ice cream and how to make the dessert your own. Below, you can learn more about this type of ice cream by reading answers to some of the most frequently asked question about, among other things, how to make and enjoy it.
What is vanilla ice cream made of?
Vanilla ice cream is made from just 4 different ingredients: whipped cream, egg yolks, sugar, and vanilla seeds. The flavour profile is simple and pure and, as such, few ingredients are needed to enjoy a homemade, fresh, and sweet dessert. Make sure to use high-quality vanilla pods to ensure a wonderful vanilla flavour with the best flavour profile.
How to make vanilla ice cream?
To prepare this elevated vanilla ice cream dessert, start by making the ice cream and getting it in the freezer. As it hardens, make the apple syrup, and cook the fresh plums as well as baking the buckwheat brittle. When the ice cream is ready, start assembling the dessert. Place the plums on a plate, pop the ice cream out of the moulds next to the plums, garnish with buckwheat brittle, and drizzle the plated dessert dish with some of the apple syrup before serving.
Does vanilla ice cream have eggs?
Most artisan recipes for ice cream call for eggs. The reason it is a good idea to add eggs to an ice cream is twofold. First, it gives the cold treat a much creamier texture. Secondly, it improves the stability of it, meaning that its tendency to melt is reduced. As such, using eggs in a vanilla ice cream recipe makes it both easier and tastier to eat.
What colour is vanilla ice cream?
Ice cream with vanilla has a creamy white colour that may appear to have a pale-yellow tinge. This tinge comes from the egg yolks. Because of the use of fresh vanilla seeds, the ice cream has tiny specks of darkness throughout. The colour of a homemade ice cream containing vanilla may resemble the colour of the vanilla plants' delicate, beautiful flower.
What can I do with vanilla ice cream?
Like all other types of ice cream, this kind can of course be enjoyed on its own. But the sweetness of its mild and round flavour ensures that it is well suited to pair with cakes, pies, and an array of fruits and berries alike, as is the case in this recipe for vanilla ice cream with plums and buckwheat brittle. How you want to enjoy the ice cream is only limited by your own imagination.
Other recipes
Homemade vanilla ice cream dessert
With our vanilla ice cream recipe, you can make an elegant-looking dessert that will impress friends and family with both its tastiness, different textures, and beautiful appearance. The sweetness as well as richness of our smooth, velvety vanilla-flavoured ice cream is balanced by a slight tartness from the baked plums, and the innovative buckwheat brittle adds texture to the otherwise soft dish. The caramelised topping made from buckwheat brings a crunchiness to the dessert that complements the creamy texture of the ice cream as well as the gooey goodness of the baked plums incredibly well.
If you enjoy this wonderful smooth ice cream, you might also enjoy our recipes for a nice, sweet strawberry ice cream or the French classic parfait ice cream as well.
Use high-quality vanilla pods
The best vanilla ice cream is one with a rich vanilla aroma. Using high-quality vanilla pods is the best way to achieve the purest and most intense vanilla flavour in an ice cream. Look for dark skinned vanilla pods that appear plumb and sleek – these are the freshest ones, and they will pack the most flavour. Over time, vanilla pods, like other spices, begin to lose their flavour and fragrance.
If you can smell the vanilla pods before buying, go for the most potent ones you can find. The scent should be quite strong with an unmistakable vanilla aroma. Common types of vanilla include Bourbon, Mexican, and Tahitian vanilla seeds. All these regularly available types work well in vanilla ice cream. So, whether you enjoy a vanilla flavour that is sweet and creamy like Bourbon, spicy and woody like Mexican, or fruity and floral like Tahitian, there are delicious, high-quality vanilla pods out there for you.
A quick and delicious dessert
Serving a beautiful, restaurant-like dessert does not have to be difficult. With our recipe for vanilla ice cream with plums and brittle, you can present a delicious dessert full of different flavours and textures in no time. After the homemade vanilla ice cream has been prepared and placed in the freezer, you are free to focus on cooking your plums in an apple juice reduction before baking both them and the puffy buckwheat brittle in the oven.
None of the elements take long to prepare compared to how great they taste. Because both plums and buckwheat brittle are chilled before serving, it is possible to make all of them in advance and simply assemble the delicious dessert right before serving.
How to spice up vanilla ice cream with other flavours
A wonderful homemade vanilla ice cream can be changed up in a myriad of ways because vanilla pairs well with many different flavours. Accentuate the warmness of the vanilla's natural flavour and make this dessert even better by taking inspiration from our smooth and spicy chai latte. This is done by adding cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, and star anise to our vanilla ice cream recipe for a spicier version that is both warm and cool.
Another flavour that pairs very well with both vanilla and plum is liquorice. Try adding some liquorice powder to our vanilla ice cream recipe to give it an herbaceous, decadent twist; the liquorice ice cream's natural light-brown colour also looks great with the purply red colour of the plums.
