Ice cream made with two bowls — no machine needed

Instructions

PHILADELPHIA-STYLE VANILLA RECIPE

1. Get a metal bowl that's about 4 quarts/liters, and another bowl that's at least twice as big. Put the bowls and your cream and milk in the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Take out the bigger bowl and fill it halfway up with ice, ideally crushed ice. Mix about 1 part salt for every 4 parts ice into the bowl. Nest the smaller bowl into the ice.
2. Put all the ingredients into the smaller bowl and beat them with an electric hand mixer on its lowest setting for 8-10 minutes, until it doesn't seem to be getting any colder or fluffier. If ice cream starts to freeze hard to the walls of the bowl, scrape it off with a spoon and keep beating.
3. Put the whole rig — inner bowl, outer bowl, ice, everything — into the freezer for an hour. Take it out and beat it again for 3-5 minutes, or until it has deflated, gone smooth, and looks like it's starting to melt. Again, if there's anything frozen hard to the walls of the bowl, scrape it off with a spoon and keep beating. (If you want any chunks in your ice cream, mix them in now.)
4. Quickly transfer the ice cream to a lidded freezer container and harden it in the freezer for 24 hours.

FRENCH-STYLE VANILLA RECIPE

1. Beat half the sugar into the egg yolks. Combine the remaining sugar and cream in a small pot and bring it to a simmer. Drizzle the hot cream into the eggs, whisking constantly. Return the mixture to the pot and simmer a few minutes until it visibly thickens. Take the pot off the heat and mix in a cup of cold milk, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Transfer to a bowl and cool it all the way down before churning — at least four hours in the refrigerator, probably.
2. Get a metal bowl that's about 4 quarts/liters, and another bowl that's at least twice as big. Put the bowls and the bowl full of cool custard into the freezer for 10-15 minutes. Take out the bigger bowl and fill it halfway up with ice, ideally crushed ice. Mix about 1 part salt for every 4 parts ice into the bowl. Nest the smaller bowl into the ice.
3. Put all the custard in the smaller bowl and it with an electric hand mixer on its lowest setting for 8-10 minutes, until it doesn't seem to be getting any colder or fluffier. If ice cream starts to freeze hard to the walls of the bowl, scrape it off with a spoon and keep beating.
4. Put the whole rig — inner bowl, outer bowl, ice, everything — into the freezer for an hour. Take it out and beat it again for 3-5 minutes, or until it has deflated, gone smooth, and looks like it's starting to melt. Again, if there's anything frozen hard to the walls of the bowl, scrape it off with a spoon and keep beating. (If you want any chunks in your ice cream, mix them in now.)
5. Quickly transfer the ice cream to a lidded freezer container and harden it in the freezer for 24 hours.