Recipe: Blackberry Buttermilk Ice Cream

Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate Gillingham
Sara Kate is the founding editor of The Kitchn. She co-founded the site in 2005 and has since written three cookbooks. She is most recently the co-author of The Kitchn Cookbook, published in October 2014 by Clarkson Potter.
published Aug 12, 2008
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(Image credit: Sara Kate Gillingham)

Last weekend I found a bush on the side of the road teeming with wild blackberries. Our two-year old thought it great fun to pick them, and drop a few of them into her red bucket, while eating the rest. That left us with about seven berries.

Later, when she wasn’t looking, I dashed back out and filled the bucket again for Blackberry Buttermilk Ice Cream. The lighter berries you see in the photo are some pale pink raspberries from my garden.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

This recipe loosely follows the basic custard-base recipe Emma gave us yesterday. Of course, you can substitute any berries in place of blackberries. If using frozen fruit, be sure to defrost and strain out any liquid before cooking.

(Image credit: Apartment Therapy)

Blackberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
makes about 1 1/2 quarts

1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
2/3 cup sugar, divided
2 tablespoons water
1 cup half and half
5 egg yolks
1 cup buttermilk, chilled in the freezer for at least 20 minutes
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan over medium-low flame, simmer berries, half the sugar and water, breaking up berries as they cook down, about 5 minutes. Puree in a blender, then strain through a sieve into a small bowl. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium-low flame, simmer the half and half until very hot, but not boiling.

In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with remaining sugar until pale yellow. Slowly pour in the hot half and half, whisking as you go, so as not to cook the eggs.

Return mixture to saucepan and heat over low flame, stirring constantly across the bottom of the pan, until thick and custardy, coating the back of a spoon, and registering 170° on an instant-read thermometer. Do not allow it to curdle.

Strain through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, pushing through any chunks that have formed. Stir in chilled buttermilk, vanilla and berry mixture. Chill for at least 30 minutes.

Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions. Ice cream will need to be frozen for at least 2 hours to achieve hard ice cream texture. Or serve as is, which will be a softer consistency.

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Dessert
easy
Ice Cream
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