Melissa Clark, writing for the New York Times:
Here I offer a classic custard base using egg yolk. Yolks vastly improve the texture of ice cream, especially the kind made in small batches in home machines. (Industrial machines, like the gurgling goliath at Peter’s, are another animal.) It acts as an emulsifier, keeping ice crystals at bay and making home-churned ice creams scoopable even after they’ve firmed up in the freezer. The yolk, along with the cream, also gives the luscious mouth feel of a great ice cream, that tongue-coating velvet you just don’t get from sorbet.
Perhaps a good base for your next ice cream party? Wink, wink.