Vanilla Plombir Ice Cream
Plombir is the dense, extra-creamy vanilla ice cream loved across Ukraine, and it’s built like a French custard: yolks, plenty of cream and a gently cooked base that chills before it freezes. We like it thick enough that a spoon leaves a groove, and fragrant with real vanilla. The milk powder isn’t a shortcut — it soaks up excess water and keeps the ice crystals tiny.
- Prep
- 40 min
- Cook
- 15 min
- Rest
- 8 h
- Total
- 8 h 55 min
- Servings
- 8
- Level
- Medium
- Per serving
- 350 kcal
Ingredients
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What to use instead
Instead of the pod, use 2 tsp pure vanilla extract, stirred into the cooled base so the aroma isn’t cooked off.
Makes: about 1 litre, 8 servings
Shopping list
The ingredients for the servings you chose — copy them or send them to a messenger. Tick what you already have at home: only the rest goes on the list.
Method
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Step 1: Warm the milk with vanilla
Split the vanilla pod lengthways and scrape out the seeds with the back of a knife. Add seeds and pod to a saucepan with the milk and 200 ml of the cream; keep the remaining 300 ml of cream in the fridge. Heat until small bubbles appear around the edge, then take off the heat and let it infuse for 10 minutes.
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Step 2: Whisk yolks and sugar
In a bowl, using a mixer or whisk, beat the yolks with the sugar, milk powder and salt for 2–3 minutes until pale and thick, like sour cream. Adding the milk powder here, rather than to hot milk, means it dissolves without lumps.
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Step 3: Temper the yolks
Fish out the vanilla pod. Pour half of the hot milk into the yolks in a thin stream, whisking all the time, so they warm gradually instead of scrambling. Tip everything back into the saucepan.
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Step 4: Cook the custard to 82 °C
Stir constantly over low heat with a spatula, scraping the bottom, for 5–7 minutes. It is ready at 82–84 °C (180 °F): the custard thickens enough to coat the spatula and a line drawn through it with a finger holds its shape. Never let it boil or the yolks will curdle.
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Step 5: Chill it fast
Strain the hot custard straight into the cold reserved cream and stir — this stops the cooking at once. Set the bowl in a larger one filled with ice and water for 15 minutes, then press cling film onto the surface and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, until it is 4–5 °C.
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Step 6: Churn
Pour the cold base into your ice cream machine and churn for 20–30 minutes, until it looks like thick soft-serve that holds its shape on a spoon. Scrape into a container, press film onto the surface and freeze for another 4 hours to firm up.
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Step 7: Or freeze without a machine
Pour the base into a metal container about 4–5 cm deep and freeze. After 45 minutes, beat it hard with a fork or hand mixer, scraping in the frozen edges; repeat every 30 minutes, 4–5 times in all, then leave for 3–4 hours. The result is a little denser than churned, but still smooth.
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Step 8: Temper before scooping
Move the ice cream to the fridge 10–15 minutes before serving so it softens enough to scoop cleanly. Dip the scoop in hot water between scoops.
Tips & variations
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Tip
A thermometer really helps here: below 80 °C the custard stays thin, above 86 °C the yolks start to curdle. If you see tiny lumps, blitz it with a stick blender straight away and strain.
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Tip
The freezer bowl of your machine needs at least 24 hours at −18 °C. If you can hear liquid sloshing when you shake it, it isn’t ready yet.
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Swap
Instead of the pod, use 2 tsp pure vanilla extract, stirred into the cooled base so the aroma isn’t cooked off.
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Storage
Keep in a tightly sealed container with film on the surface for up to 2 weeks. After that it’s still safe but slowly turns icy.
Nutrition
| 1 serving | Whole dish 8 servings | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 350 kcal | 2,800 kcal |
| Protein | 5 g | 40 g |
| Fat | 24 g | 192 g |
| Carbohydrates | 28 g | 224 g |
Approximate values calculated from standard ingredient data.
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