Homemade Dairy Queen Blizzard

Makes about 1 quart/approx 1L

Blizzard Base

8 oz whole milk
12 oz cream
1 Tahitian vanilla bean, split and scraped; seeds reserved for another use
1 1/2 ounces egg yolks (from between 2-3 eggs, depending on size)
7 ounces sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 ounce Frangelico
12 ounces of your favorite Blizzard mix-in, like Peanut Butter Cups, Oreos,
Smarties or whatever your heart desires

In a medium pot, bring the milk and cream to a boil together with the vanilla bean. When the mixture begins to simmer, shut off the heat and cover with a lid. Steep for one hour, or as long as 24; if you plan to steep it for longer than 4 hours, stash the pot in the refrigerator.

When your chosen steep time has elapsed, return the dairy mixture to a simmer. Meanwhile whisk the sugar gradually into the yolks in a medium bowl. It’s a lot of sugar, so if you dump it in all at once, it might not fully incorporate. But whisk in a little at a time and you won’t have a problem. Whisk in the salt too.

Once the dairy begins to simmer, fish out the vanilla bean and use a spatula to scrape out all of the heavily flavored cream from inside the pod. That stuff is liquid gold, make sure not to lose a drop. It’s easier to scrape out the vanilla pod while it’s still warm (hence bringing the mix to a simmer) because when cold, the vanilla-goo congeals and sticks more resolutely to the bean.

Now, whisk some of the hot dairy mixture into the egg yolks, one ladle-full at a time, until the egg mixture is quite warm. Then whisk the egg mixture into the pot of cream and turn the heat to medium or medium low, depending on your comfort level. Stir constantly, making sure to scrape all along the bottom of the pot while to avoid allowing any of the mixture to curdle.

Normally, ice cream recipes entreat you to cook until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon, but with this recipe, that will never happen. Just not enough eggs. So use a thermometer and cook until it reaches 140.

Immediately shut off the heat and strain the custard through a sieve and into a large bowl. Stir in the Frangelico.

Cool in an ice bath and refrigerate overnight. Process in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s directions.