Our Absolute Favorite Vanilla Ice Cream Brand Takes Us To France

Vanilla ice cream — despite its lexical reputation — should not be overlooked, especially when there are many ways to make it not be boring. We recently ranked 11 store-bought brand's take on vanilla ice cream which included popular brands like Breyers and Häagen-Dazs, although one, unexpected, brand came out on top. 

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream swept the competition away with its creamy texture and simplicity that made it all the more delicious. We appreciated how it wasn't overly sweet (the brand's trick is to add salt to balance things out) and included natural vanilla beans as well as vanilla extract for the perfect combination of flavors. 

But what else makes Van Leeuwen so good? It simply takes the French approach to creating this dessert, which does wonders for its flavor and texture. Although its founders are not French, after one bite of Van Leeuwen, you'll want all of your ice cream to emulate a day spent in Paris.

In addition to the fresh vanilla bean, the key to French-style ice cream is extra egg yolks. Van Leeuwen uses twice as many egg yolks compared to what's expected of an ice cream formula. This is why the texture is ultra-rich and creamy, similar to custard, and why we can't get enough of it! American ice cream tends to skip this step, with most ice cream brands not even using egg yolk at all: mainly milk, sugar, and cream for its recipe.

The process of making French-style ice cream might sound tedious, but similar to any custard, the most important thing is to make sure you don't boil your mixture when you warm the egg yolks, sugar, and cream, to prevent cooking the eggs. Van Leeuwen Ice Cream has been around since 2008, and is known not just for its outstanding texture, but for its interesting flavors. Besides just classic vanilla, they even had a Grey Poupon mustard flavor, so there is lots to explore, from the flavors of France and beyond.