Making Culver’s Custard Recipe With the Ninja Creami

Culver’s Custard Recipe– A Legend in the Making

If you have a craving for a Butter Burger, you know where to go. And if you’re in the mood for a sweet treat, you may add one of Culver’s other iconic menu items to your order.  If you aren’t near a Culver’s, I’ve got you covered with the Culver’s Custard Recipe.

I’m talking about Culver’s vanilla custard ice cream of course, which serves as the foundation for cups, cones, and Concrete Mixers. It looks a lot like soft serve, but let me assure you, this stuff is in a league of its own.

It has the power to mend broken hearts, bad work days, and all around bad moods. I should know, as it’s been my go-to for years. Even when I was a kid, all it took was having my parents offer to take us for vanilla custard for us to behave. 

Isn’t It Just Ice Cream Though?

Well, no, it’s not just ice cream. It’s frozen custard. This may sound like I’m being picky with words, but there is a distinctive difference in Culver’s frozen custard vs ice cream.

For starters, Culver’s vanilla custard ice cream is served at a warmer temperature than ice cream. It has less air mixed in too, making it denser and lending a richer experience for the palate. 

Ultimately, this difference is what has put Culver’s on the map, marked by its heavenly creaminess from the moment you dig your spoon in. 

There’s yet another difference too. 

Culver’s vanilla custard is considered a custard because it contains eggs. It needs the eggs or else it’s just another ice cream in the frozen dessert category. The pasteurized eggs that are used are the reason you’ve come to love the indulgent texture found in these frozen delights from Culver’s. 

With the eggs as part of the recipe, it also requires that this frozen custard be kept warmer than traditional ice cream. It’s all a balancing act that Culver’s does so well.

But don’t worry…it’s not a tightrope walk over a pool filled with sharks and crocodiles. Anyone can make it just by following the recipe I’ve got below, which may be the ideal solution if you’re craving Culver’s and don’t have one nearby. 

RELATED: The Delicious Taste of Culver’s Butter Burger Recipe

The Key to Making Copycat Culver’s Vanilla Custard Ice Cream at Home

If you want to make the copycat version of Culver’s vanilla custard ice cream, you’ll need to prepare in advance to make sure you’ve got the right supplies. I highly recommend the Ninja Creami. I’ve also made a copycat Dairy Queen Blizzard which is to die for.

With the right tools, you can take whole milk, heavy cream, sugar, vanilla extract, eggs, and salt and turn it into your own frozen vanilla custard ice cream. You’ll begin with heating the milk and heavy cream on your stovetop, then adding the salt and sugar. After the sugar dissolves, you’ll take the mixture from the heat and add your vanilla. 

It needs to cool to room temperature before you can pour it off and refrigerate (2-3 hours). It’s not done yet though of course. I know it tests my patience to wait, but the results are indeed worth it.

After it has chilled in the refrigerator for 4-6 hours, you can transfer it to the freezer for 24 hours to get the best Culver’s vanilla custard you’ll ever have. Read through the directions below and we’ll outline each step for you.

Note about heating custard: Keeping a steady temperature of 170 – 175 is really difficult and when it hits 180+ it starts cooking the eggs, meaning your batch will get smaller and smaller too as you strain the cooked eggs. Keep your eyes on the temperature and remember: Slow and steady wins the race.

Culver’s Vanilla Custard Ice Cream Recipe

Want to recreate Culver's creamy vanilla custard at home with the Ninja Creami? You can with this easy recipe! You'll need milk, heavy cream, sugar, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix these ingredients, heat until sugar dissolves, then cool the mixture. Next, chill it in the fridge for a couple of hours. After that, use an ice cream maker to churn it, then freeze until it's firm. Enjoy this homemade frozen custard plain or with toppings!

• Saucepan
• Whisk
• Container
• Ninja Creami
• Mixing Bowl Set
• Hand Strainer

• 1 cup whole milk
• 2 cups heavy cream (16 ounce container)
• 1 pinch salt
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1 Tablespoon vanilla extract
• 2 teaspoons vanilla bean paste
• 1/8 teaspoon guar gum
• 1 count Madagascar vanilla bean (optional)
• 6 count egg yolks (room temperature (takes 30 mins to reach from a refrigerator))

Preparation

1. Whisk 6 egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Set aside.

2. Mix the Guar Gum and the Sugar in a separate bowl to allow an even dispersement.

3. In a large saucepan, combine whole milk, heavy cream, salt, and sugar and heat on low heat to reach 170 degrees.

4. Take a large spoon and transfer some of the mixture slowly into the bowl with the egg yolks, slowly using a whisk to prevent scrambling. The mixture should thicken.

5. Slowly pour the egg mixture into the saucepan while continuing to whisk the saucepan over low heat (170- 175 degrees), until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Avoid to get to a heavy simmer or rolling boil otherwise it will curdle.

6. Add the vanilla ingredients to the sauce pan. Continue to slowly mix in the saucepan with a whisk.

7. Pour the mixture from the sauce pan through the strainer into a new large mixing bowl. The strainer should capture any eggs that were cooked.

8. Take the mixture and divide into two Creami pints up to the fill line and let them get to room temperature. This takes 1-2 hours, but if you use an ice bath it can take 30 minutes.

9. Move the pints into the refrigerator to cool all the way through for 4-6 hours. Do not move into the freezer yet, you will make the mistake of freezing chunks of fat.

10. Move the pints to the freezer and then freeze for 12-24 hours (24 is preferred).

11. Take each pint and insert into the Ninja Creami, using the Ice Cream, Full setting. You may need to do this twice, depending on the freezing outcome.

12. The frozen custard may be more of a soft serve at this stage because it will require some additional freezer time to harden, now that the custard ice cream is spun.

Note:  If you have the Ninja Creami Deluxe, like myself; then this recipe can fill up one of the deluxe pints instead of two.

Dessert

American

copycat recipe