Vanilla Ice Cream Layered with Strawberry: Guilty Pleasure

OK.. let me start by saying this is not for people who are on diet or for the extremely health conscious. I am both of the above most of the time, but for this one time I said to self "to heck with icicle like ice cream, let me enjoy real creamy, loaded with calories ice cream for once. I'll skip my dinner......... lunch.... and even that evening snack."

I usually make eggless ice cream with half and half and I found that it has a crystalline texture, it satisfies your sweet tooth for sure, but I was missing the creamy, decadent and rich taste of real ice cream (basically I missed fat from the ice cream, 'cos higher the fat content, the richer and creamier the result). So I decided to go ahead and indulge in this sinfully delicious treat. I followed the recipe from Cuisinart's recipe booklet.
Yet another reason to indulge in ice cream is because July is National Ice Cream Month. Three great bloggers Savor the Thyme, Tangled Noodle & Scotty Snacks are hosting Ice Cream Social event and asking all of us to send in our home made or favorite ice-cream shop ice creams.

Ingredients:
Whole Milk - 2 1/3 cups
Heavy Cream - 2 1/3 cups
Vanilla Bean - 1 whole bean (I used the vanilla powder I bought from Sweden)
Eggs - 3 large whole & 4 large yolks
Sugar - 1 1/8
Pure vanilla extract - 2tsp
Strawberry Puree - 2 cups (recipe follows)

Method:

• Combine milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan. Split the vanilla bean in half lengthwise, scrape the seeds with the edge of a blunt knife. Stir the seeds and bean pod into the milk/cream mixture.
• Bring the mixture to a slow boil over medium heat, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Combine eggs and egg yolks and sugar in a medium bowl. Use a hand mixer on medium speed to beat until the mixture is thick, smooth and pale yellow in color, about 2 minutes.
• Remove the vanilla bean from milk/cream mixture and discard.
• Now temper the eggs with the hot milk/cream mixture. Measure out 1 cup of hot liquid, and with the mixture on low speed, add this hot liquid to the egg mixture in a slow, steady stream.
• When thoroughly combines, pour the mixture back into the saucepan with the rest of the milk/cream mixture and stir to combine.
• Cook, stirring constantly, over medium-low heat until the mixture is thick enough to coat the back of the spoon.
• Transfer to a bowl, stir in vanilla and let cool a little bit. Then cover with a plastic wrap directly on the custard to avoid skin formation, and chill completely.
• Then follow the ice cream machine instructions and make your batch of extremely decadent vanilla ice cream.
• Now to make Strawberry layered Cake, simple spread a layer of vanilla ice cream in a freezer safe bowl followed by a thin layer of strawberry puree; repeat the layers with the remaining ice cream and puree. Cover and freeze for at least an hour to set.

Strawberry Puree: Puree 2 cups of hulled & chopped strawberries with 1/2 to 3/4 cup (or more depending on the sweetness of your fruit) of sugar. Bring this mixture to a slow simmer until slightly thick. Chill thoroughly before using in the ice cream.