Sicilian Gelato-Style Ice Cream

A no-egg Sicilian style ice cream – very delicious and not as rich as an egg-based ice cream. I prefer this to egg-based ice-cream.

(Originally from https://www.icecreamnation.org/2011/08/sicilian-gelato/)

Ingredients

• 700 ml (about 3 cups whole milk) OR 350 ml (1.5 cups) cream and 350 ml (1.5 cups) milk)
• 125 ml (a full 1/2 cup) sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons of corn starch
• pinch of salt
• 1 vanilla bean split lengthwise

Instructions

• Whisk together 200 ml (about 0.8 cup) of the cold milk with the corn starch, making sure that there are no remaining lumps. Set aside for now.
• Blend the remaining 500 ml (about 2.1 cup) of the milk/cream, the sugar, the salt and vanilla bean (with seeds scraped out and added) in a sauce pan. Warm until steaming hot (not boiling!) on medium heat.
• Blend the corn starch mixture with the rest of the ingredients in the sauce pan. While barely reaching a boil, cook and stir for about four- five minutes, or until the mixture has begun to thicken and any possible “floury” taste (from the starch) has disappeared [and don’t overcook: that would reduce the thickening powers of the starch].
• Take the ice cream base from the heat and let the mixture cool down.
• Refrigerate for a couple of hours, discard the vanilla bean, and freeze according to the instructions of your ice cream machine.
• In case you have no ice cream machine, still-freeze the base in your freezer (see the link below the box!) – this base is perfect for still-freezing, by the way!
• After the churning, place the ice cream in a freezer-safe container, cover with plastic film and a lid, and store in the freezer.

Please note that you may want to adjust the amount of cornstarch used to find the consistency you prefer. For instance, if using a relatively high proportion of cream, you may want to use less cornstarch (1-2 tablespoons, suggestively).

Goes great with Compressed Apple Terrine