Hey Lu. This is the traditional custard vanilla recipe I typically make and I've never noticed it getting super hard. And actually when I'm making it to go with something, I like it to be at least firm enough to form a nice scoop in advance. I put the scoops into a separate container and then it's easy to pull it out of the freezer and drop a scoop onto each plate or bowl. The last time I did that it was warm blackberry cobbler and the vanilla ice cream just started to melt when I put it on. Then it was a delicious cacophony of gooey cobbler and ice cream and vanilla sauce. Mmmmmmmmm.
And BTW, your photos are awesome (in addition to the subject matter, of course). What camera/lens are you using? You've got some serious bokeh!
Emilie
P.S. I think I'm the only person on the planet who didn't care for the Jeni's vanilla recipe. Something about the consistency just seemed weird.
Delicious Vanilla Bean Ice Cream
1 vanilla bean, split and scraped
3 cups half-and-half
2 cup sugar
8 to 9 large egg yolks
3 cups heavy cream
Heat half-and-half and 2 cups sugar in a separate saucepan over low heat, adding vanilla “caviar” to the mixture. (You can also drop in the scraped vanilla bean, just to extract all the flavor. Discard before moving to the next step.) Turn off heat when mixture is totally heated.
Add heavy cream to a separate bowl.
Beat egg yolks by hand or with an electric mixer until yolks are pale yellow and slightly thick.
Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling in 1 1/2 cups of hot half-and-half mixture, whisking constantly. After that, pour the egg yolk/half-and-half mixture into the pan containing the rest of the half-and-half mixture. Cook over low to medium-low heat (depending on how hot your stove gets) until quite thick, stirring constantly. Drain custard using a fine mesh strainer, then pour into the bowl with the cream. Stir to combine.
Chill mixture completely, then freeze in an ice cream maker until thick. Place container in freezer to harden for at least eight hours.