French Vanilla Ice Cream

Steps

1. Split vanilla bean and scrape out seeds. Add with milk to a 1-quart saucepan.
2. Bring milk to simmer (180 °F), stirring constantly.
3. Cover milk and let steep 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, whisk together sugar, salt, egg yolks, and vanilla seeds. Whisk 2 minutes until smooth and lightened. Stir in corn syrup.
5. Return milk to simmer, then add small amounts of hot milk to egg yolk mixture, whisking in well to temper the egg yolks. Once the mixture is warmed, add the rest of the milk and whisk together well.
6. Return mixture to saucepan. Heat, stirring constantly, until slightly thickened and at a temperature of 175 °F with whisps of steam just beginning to show.
7. Remove from heat. Add the cream into the custard to cool and stop the cooking quickly.
8. Strain into a bowl to remove any curdled egg yolk. Return the vanilla bean to the strained custard. Add vanilla extract if using.
9. Set aside one cup of the custard and freeze. Cover the remaining custard and refrigerate overnight or up to 3 days.
10. Remove the vanilla bean. With fingers, "squeegee" dark oils from the bean back into the custard.
11. Break up the frozen portion of custard and stir well into the refrigerated portion, until ice crystals have melted and custard is very cold.
12. Freeze in an ice cream freezer, following manufacturer instruction, usually about 20 minutes.
13. Transfer to a sealed storage container. Place in freezer at least 3 hours before serving.