Vanilla Ice Cream Cake

So, Titus turned four in May. He insisted on an ice cream cake. Unfortunately, he only likes vanilla ice cream. I figured it might be a bit boring.. but hey, it's his cake. And he loved it. So did all the guests! I served strawberries on the side - the birthday boy didn't have any, though. (And he didn't appreciate the chocolate cookies I used as decoration, either.. sigh.)

Vanilla Ice Cream Cake

200 ml full-fat milk
100 ml sugar (I used home made vanilla sugar)
1 tsp commercial vanilla sugar (or go ahead and use a scraped out vanilla bean if you happen to have one)
pinch of salt
3 egg yolks
300 ml cream (full-fat)
1 tsp vanilla extract

Heat the milk with the sugar, vanilla sugar and salt until steaming hot (but not boiling). Cover with a lid, and remove from the heat, and let it sit to infuse for about 30 minutes.

Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl. Re-heat the milk mixture, and when it's warm, add a little to the egg yolks and stir well. Pour the now-tempered egg yolks into the saucepan, and heat everything gently until slightly thickened. Stir all the time.

Take a clean bowl that has a lid, and place a sieve on top. Add the cream and the vanilla extract. Then sieve the contents of your saucepan into the bowl as well. Stir to mix, and cover with a lid. Let this cool completely, ideally over night.

Run in your ice cream machine until frozen, then pour into a small springform tin. Place in the freezer for at least four hours.

Decorate as you see fit... or more fun, let your toddler do it!