If the cornstarch is cooked, there should be almost no flavor.
Cornstarch is used as a thickener to reduce the number of eggs needed. It's just a slightly thinned down blancmange.
Linda c

Here's a recipe my mother used to make. It had NOTHING to do with lower fat (LOL). It's a custard-style ice cream recipe due to the ingredients (same as those in custard) and cooked custard/pudding consistancy before it's frozen. Use good quality vanilla since it's a stand-alone flavor. We loved it!!! Never thought it tasted like cornstarch.

Another type of old-fashioned recipe you'll run across is for French Vanilla. This type will have a LOT of egg yolks to make it a creamy golden-yellow color. Deeper color if you use farm fresh eggs which tend to have deeper color in the yolks than those anemic commercial eggs found at the grocery store. The color from the yolks is what distinguishes French Vanilla Ice Cream from regular recipes.

-Grainlady

Vanilla Ice Cream

2 c. sugar
1/4 c. cornstarch
1/4 t. salt
4 c. milk
4 eggs, beaten
2 T. vanilla
4 c. table cream

Mix sugar, cornstarch, and salt in top of double boiler. Blend milk in gradually. Cook over hot water, stirring occasionally, until thickened about 12-15 minutes. Stir in small amount of hot cornstarch mixture into beaten eggs, then stir eggs into remaining cornstarch mixture. Cook over hot water stirring constantly 4-5 minutes longer until consistancy of pudding. Chill thoroughly. Stir in vanilla and cream. Pour into a one-gallon freezer. Fill not more than 2/3 full. Allow the ice cream to sit in the canister with ice around it for about 2 hours when done to "ripen" the ice cream.

I was just doing some research myself yesterday on ice cream, and came across the ones that called for cornstarch..apparently it's a mouth feel thing.

My husband's grandmotehr had a recipe using a flour thickened custard....good as I recall!
Linda c

Thanks for posting about this, cookie. I also recently bought an ice cream maker, and I've been looking around for lower-fat versions.

The first thing that comes up when you Google is Mark Bittman's NY Times article that I've linked. You can click through there to get to the actual recipe, and at the bottom of the page there's a video of him making some ice cream (with a very fancy machine). It certainly couldn't look any easier. I'll definitely be trying it out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cornstarch ice cream

That's funny Maureen, I have a batch (first batch ever) cooling in the fridge as I type this. We made it this morning. It's a super simple recipe from NY Times, I will post later on a verdict! I read the article you linked, thanks. I can't wait to try sorbets and gelato oh, and frozen yogourt, oh, and super rich, high fat ice cream. I'm just excited. I'll probably try the other recipes posted here too.

This is seriously un-gourmet, but I occasionally use fat free, sugar free pudding-mix pudding in my ice cream maker. Just gently wisk skim milk into the mystery powder and freeze in the maker. It actually comes out well, but you have to eat it right away because it gets too hard when stored in the freezer. So if you're watching your waistline, you'll have to line up some others to help you eat it.

Cookie, when you say "first batch ever," do you mean first batch of the cornstarch recipe or just first batch of anything at all? Congratulations if this is your machine's maiden voyage! Either way, I'll be interested to hear how it came out.

I went a little nuts buying ice cream cookbooks, but I've been trying to be restrained in what I actually make. This week I did the Roasted Banana Ice Cream from a book by David Lebovitz. There's no actual cream in it, just milk, and I thought it was delicious. Fortunately for me, my husband doesn't like the taste of bananas when they're really ripe, so I don't even have to share. ;o)

I think I'll try the cornstarch next--maybe the coffee variation. Have fun, and report back!

Bird's Custard Powder, a British product available in many places here in the US, is thickened with cornstarch and it makes great custard.

Okay, I'm very curious what other people's resutls are with this recipe. I used the Mark Bittman recipe in my new Kitchenaid ice cream maker. I made the base up last night and refrigerated it. This morning when I got it out it was very thick-the consistency of pudding. The kitchenaid directions said ice cream would take about 25-30 minutes to process and to stop the machine when it started dragging and clicking. Well, this happened after 4 minutes! The flavor and consistency were good, but I feel like it should have processed longer to get some more into the mixture. I transferred it to a freezer container and having it in the freezer now setting up. I'll post a picture in a few hours.

Tracey

tracey-oh,
I made the custard this morning and used my Cuisart ice cream maker. I haven't used it in years but this recipe has really piqued my interest. I used 2% milk and added 4 oz of strawberry freezer jam and some vanilla for flavoring. My machine clicked, too, at first and then stopped. I went the whole 30 minutes and it melted FAST once I started taking it out of the freezer container. Not too fast for us to eat some, though! :) I put the rest in the freezer and am interested to see what the consistency will be like when it freezes for a couple of hours.

We liked the flavor and consistency...I was a little worried that it might taste or feet starchy but we liked it.

I give this recipe a thumbs up!
Pam

Pam,
I'm glad your ice cream turned out well! I just finished watching the video that went with the recipe and they don't match, which irritates me to no end. The recipe says to mix the cornstarch in with 1/2 cup of the milk, but in the video he mixes it with a few tablespoons of water, then cools the mixture. After the mixture has cooled, THEN he adds in the last 1/2 cup of milk, in his case buttermilk. I think my custard was way too thick and froze my machine up. I've found a chocolate gelato recipe on epicurious that uses cornstarch instead of eggs, so I'll give that a whirl soon.

Tracey

Tracey,
I improvised. :) I mixed the cornstarch with a little milk and added it in before I cooked it. I was surprised to see him putting cornstarch into a hot mixture. Good luck on your chocolate gelato! Let us know how it goes.
Pam

Well, here is the recipe I made...
2 1/2 cups light cream, half-and-half or milk (whole or skim), or a combination
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
1 vanilla bean or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch.

1. Put 2 cups cream, half-and-half or milk, the sugar and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. If using a vanilla bean, split in half lengthwise and scrape seeds into liquid, then add pod. Cook until mixture begins to steam.

2. In a bowl, blend cornstarch and remaining cream, half-and-half or milk; there should be no lumps. Remove bean pod from pot and discard. Add cornstarch mixture to pot. Cook, stirring, until it starts to thicken and barely reaches a boil, about 5 minutes. Immediately reduce heat to very low and stir for 5 minutes or so until thick. Stir in vanilla extract, if using.

3. If mixture has lumps, strain it into a bowl. Chill until cool, a couple of hours (you can skip this step if you have a machine with a built-in freezer). When cool or if there are no lumps, pour into an ice cream machine and freeze according to the manufacturerÂs instructions.

Yield: 1 generous pint.

It was okay. I made it around noon and we ate it at dinner time. It was pretty crumbly I found. I am making cinnamon ice cream right now - it's in the mixer.
Yes, Maureen, my first time ever. Next will be orange sorbet next week.

Cookie,
That's the recipe I used. I served it tonight to some good friends who make great guinea pigs for my food experiments. They loved the flavor and texture, but my husband, who I can always count on to be brutally honest said it tasted like frozen pudding. Here's a pic and I'll report on the chocolate when I make it.

Well, after making the full fat ice cream (I don't know the last time I had it) it's probably the only way I will go from now on. What a difference! I will still make sorbet and try a gelato. We had two stomach viruses in the past six weeks so we have a house full of stick people so we can afford the real stuff for the summer at least. I hope I don't go crazy with it, two ice creams in a week is a lot to me. Here's the cinnamon ice cream recipe I got from allrecipes.
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 1/2 cups half-and-half cream
* 2 eggs, beaten
* 1 cup heavy cream
* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
* 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

number of stars

READ REVIEWS (98)

DIRECTIONS

1. In a saucepan over medium-low heat, stir together the sugar and half-and-half. When the mixture begins to simmer, remove from heat, and whisk half of the mixture into the eggs. Whisk quickly so that the eggs do not scramble. Pour the egg mixture back into the saucepan, and stir in the heavy cream. Continue cooking over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of a metal spoon. Remove from heat, and whisk in vanilla and cinnamon. Set aside to cool.
2. Pour cooled mixture into an ice cream maker, and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Same with another reviewer, I cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup. I might make an apple caramel sauce to serve with it. If I really was in the mood I would make a cheesecake for it. mmmmm

Cookie, that cinnamon ice cream sounds really good.

I was intrigued by the cornstarch recipe, because it doesn't use eggs..but maybe I will avoid it and stick with egg based?!

I made a vanilla icecream that I loved but the boys thought it was to "greasy". I think they meant the mouthfeel. LOL

which is why I loved it..it was rich, thick and fat!!! lol

Here it is: I don't have the 'source' listed.

Vanilla Ice cream recipe:
In a bowl, mix three eggs with one cup of sugar. Heat two cups of half n half on the stove until just starting to bubble. Pour the hot half n half slowly over the egg mixture, stiring as you pour. Then put the whole mixture back on the stove on low heat and stir constantly for roughly 10-15 minutes until it starts to thicken up. (coats the back of a wooden spoon). As soon as it hits this point pour in 2 more cups of half n half to bring the temp down. Stir in 2 Tablespoons of vanilla, chill (overnight is best). Freeze in ice cream maker according to directions.

~I didn't use extract, I split a bean and put in the cream. I fished it out at the end of the recipe.