Smartsoft Recipe

Warm the milk and cream

Combine whole milk and heavy cream in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Warm until it just begins to steam and small bubbles form at the edge (about 170°F / 77°C), stirring occasionally to prevent scorching.

Mix sugar and yolks

While the milk warms, whisk the granulated sugar with the egg yolks in a heatproof bowl until the mixture lightens slightly and the sugar begins to dissolve (about 1–2 minutes).

Temper the yolks

Slowly ladle 1/3 of the hot milk mixture into the yolks while whisking constantly to temper. Then pour the tempered yolk mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining milk, stirring continuously.

Cook to custard

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom, until the mixture thickens and coats the back of the spatula (target 175–180°F / 79–82°C). Do not boil. Remove from heat.

Add salt and vanilla

Stir in the fine sea salt and pure vanilla extract until fully incorporated.

Make slurry

In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and powdered milk. Add the invert sugar (or light corn syrup) and mix to form a smooth slurry. Add 2–3 tablespoons of the hot custard to the slurry to loosen it, whisking until smooth.

Incorporate slurry

Return the loosened slurry to the saucepan and bring the mixture back to a gentle simmer for 1–2 minutes while stirring. This activates the cornstarch and powder milk to help stabilize the soft-serve texture. Remove from heat.

Cool quickly

Place the saucepan in an ice bath (use the 2 cups cold water with ice) and stir the custard occasionally until it cools to room temperature (about 20–30 minutes).

Age the mix

Transfer the cooled custard to a clean container, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, preferably overnight. Aging improves flavor and stabilizer hydration for smoother soft-serve.

Prepare machine and churn

Before churning, lightly oil or spray any rubber seals of your soft-serve machine or follow the manufacturer's prep instructions. Pour the chilled custard into the soft-serve machine and freeze/churn according to the machine's recommended cycle until it reaches soft-serve consistency (typically 10–20 minutes depending on machine).

Add mix-ins (optional)

If using mix-ins, add them in the last 1–2 minutes of churning to disperse evenly without breaking the texture.

Serve

Dispense the soft-serve into cones or cups. For a firmer hold, briefly place servings in the freezer (2–5 minutes). Clean machine parts promptly after use.