Vanilla Ice Cream

Recipe No. 132 from the U.S. Army’s WWII cookbook — Desserts. Quantities are exactly as printed, for 100 servings; a scaled-down 8-serving version is in the notes.

Ingredients

• Cornstarch — 8 ounces (½ mess kit cup)
• Salt — ½ ounce (1 mess kit spoon)
• Sugar, granulated — 5 pounds (2½ No. 56 dippers)
• Milk, evaporated — 13 — 14½-ounce cans

Water (for milk) — 1½ gallons (6 No. 56 dippers)

• Eggs, slightly beaten — 24 eggs (1¼ No. 56 dippers)
• Cream, thin — 1 pint (½ No. 56 dipper)
• Vanilla — 2½ ounces (5 mess kit spoons)

Directions

Key ingredients

Cornstarch · Evaporated Milk

1. Mix cornstarch, salt, and ½ sugar together.
2. Mix milk and water; add to cornstarch mixture. Mix well.
3. Heat to boiling point; reduce heat and simmer until thick, stirring constantly.
4. Mix beaten egg and remaining sugar; add to cooked mixture a little at a time, beating after each addition.
5. Cool; add cream and vanilla. Mix well.
6. Place can in freezer; put in dasher and fill can ⅔ full of mixture. Cover and adjust crank.
7. Pack with alternate layers of ice and coarse salt to within 3 inches of top. Use six parts ice to one part salt.
8. Turn crank steadily and slowly. The mixture is frozen when the crank turns hard. While freezing, add more salt and ice if necessary.
9. Remove dasher and pack with additional ice and salt; allow to stand 2 hours before serving.

Notes

SCALED TO 8 SERVINGS (the original is ÷12.5): Cornstarch — ⅔ oz Salt — a pinch Sugar, granulated — 6⅓ oz Milk, evaporated — 1 can(s) (14½ oz) Water (for milk) — 2 cups Eggs, slightly beaten — 2 eggs Cream, thin — 2½ tbsp Vanilla — about 1¼ tsp

— TM 10-412, Army Recipes (War Department, 15 August 1944), recipe No. 132, Desserts. Army measures: 1 No. 56 dipper = 1 qt; 1 No. 55 dipper = 1¾ qt; 1 mess kit cup = 1½ pints.