INGREDIENT SPOTLIGHT
VANILLA ICE CREAM
Finding a good vanilla ice cream shouldn’t be hard, but with nearly 40 brands on the market, in a slew of different styles (like vanilla bean, natural vanilla, and French vanilla), who knows which one to pick? To find out, we tasted eight brands of vanilla ice cream. Brands straying too far from the authentic, old-fashioned starting points of cream, milk, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract scored poorly, while ice cream made with real vanilla extract, that wasn’t hidden behind artificial or other natural flavors, and a creamy texture, achieved without a ton of emulsifiers and stabilizers, did well. Our winner, Ben & Jerry’s Vanilla, was buttery-tasting and rich, full of “indulgent” vanilla flavor, sweetened with real sugar, and enriched with egg yolks. Though this ice cream included two stabilizers—way less than some competitors—its texture was still ultracreamy and silky.
