The summer of ice cream

At the beginning of summer, I said this was going to be the summer of ice cream and it was. I made so many types of icy treats, I can’t even believe it.

Many of them were memorable, some were mediocre and a few of them were flops. You got to have some of those too, right? Just for good measure.

The list is big but let me give you an idea:
Cantaloupe sorbet
Ginger ice cream
Pineapple and coconut semifreddo
Balsamic roasted strawberry ice cream
Greek frappe coffee ice pops
Peach and blueberry sorbet
Stracciatella ice cream (I still dream about this one)
Blackberry ice cream

Alas, I didn’t have the time to photograph most of them, which is kind of sad because I’m dying to share the recipes, but I did get the chance to photograph the blackberry ice cream that I made just a few days ago.

Blackberries are perhaps my favorite berries even though blackberries are technically fruits. That dark blue, glistening color and the smooth texture of their plump little drupelets is irresistible to me. I love eating them just as they are, savoring their sweet and tart notes, but in ice creams, jams and tarts, they are even more delicious.

Blackberries are full of antioxidants, vitamin C and fibers but I wouldn’t want to sell you this ice cream as a healthy one. Well, it has cream, eggs and sugar so who would I be kidding. It has, however, an amazingly fresh and fruity as well as slightly mellow creamy flavor with a hint of vanilla and lemon, paired with a rich, velvety texture that is highly addictive. Not to mention that gorgeous purple color. I could eat scoop after scoop without ever wanting to stop, but I had to control myself. Will you be able to?

Reminder: the Yummy Supper cookbook giveaway is still running so go to this post for a chance to win a copy. Thank you to all who have already left their comments!

Blackberry ice cream
Adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones

Use fresh sweet blackberries but if the ones you find are on the tart side, add a bit more sugar to the blackberry pureé (about 20 g more).

Yield: about 1 kg

Ingredients

for the blackberry pureé
300 g fresh blackberries
80 g caster sugar
1 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice

for the ice cream base
6 medium-sized egg yolks
120 g caster sugar
440 ml cream, full-fat (35%)
190 ml whole milk
¼ tsp salt
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Special equipment: small food processor or blender, fine sieve, plastic wrap, ice cream machine (optional yet preferable)


Preparation

make the blackberry pureé
In a small saucepan, add blackberries and sugar and stir well. Place pan over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until the blackberries soften and the liquid that they have released has somewhat reduced, stirring frequently.
Let cool slightly. Transfer the berries, their juices and the lemon juice to a small food processor or blender and pureé until smooth. Pass half of the mixture through a fine sieve and into a medium-sized bowl, pressing with a spatula to extract as much pureé as possible from the berries. Discard the solids and pour the rest of the pureé into the bowl with the strained pureé. Stir gently to combine, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

make the ice cream base
In a medium-sized bowl, add the egg yolks and half the sugar (60 g) and whisk well to combine. Set aside.

In a medium-sized, heavy bottomed saucepan, add the cream, milk, the rest of the sugar (60 g) and salt, place over medium-high heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and heat until the mixture is warm but not hot.
Very slowly, pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking quickly and continuously so the eggs don’t curdle. Pour mixture into the saucepan and heat over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spatula, making sure to keep scraping the bottom of the pan. Stir the mixture until it thickens and coats the spatula.

Pour the custard through a fine sieve and into a clean bowl. Add the vanilla extract and stir well.

Fill a large bowl with ice cubes and a little water, and place the bowl with the ice cream mixture on top. Stir the mixture with a spatula in order to cool it down. Once cool, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

Whisk the blackberry pureé into the chilled ice cream base and pour it into your ice cream maker. Continue, following the manufacturer's instructions.

Alternatively, if you don't have an ice cream maker, empty the ice cream mixture into a container suitable for the freezer. Put mixture in the freezer, take it out after 40 minutes and whisk it very well. You can also beat it with a spatula vigorously (or you can use a blender, or even a stick blender).
Continue doing the same thing every half hour, until it's too thick and frozen to beat or whisk. The whole process will take about two and a half hours.