Homemade Fresh Blackberry Ice Cream

A FRESH BLACKBERRY FAVORITE

If your house is anything like ours, you can fly through a container of blackberries in a hurry. In fact, one of my children loves blackberries so much, he needs someone to remind him to pump the brakes. Their deeply sweet flavor with a slight tang makes them irresistible when they’re perfectly ripe. 

Fear not! Preparing fresh blackberries for pound cake or this homemade ice cream is simple. All you’ll need as far as “special equipment” to make it is an ice cream machine or attachment for your mixer and a fine mesh strainer. Once you have those, you’re all set to get started.

INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED

Despite there being multiple components to this blackberry ice cream, you will use blackberries and sugar in both, so the list of ingredients repeats itself. Overall, you only need 7 ingredients to make this delectable frozen treat!

BLACKBERRY SYRUP

• fresh blackberries
• granulated sugar
• cornstarch

BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM

• fresh blackberries
• granulated sugar
• heavy cream
• whole milk
• vanilla extract
• salt

CAN I USE FROZEN BLACKBERRIES?

I always prefer to make all of my components from scratch, and thanks to Bushel and Berry®, I had fresh blackberries available to me because they were in season when I made this recipe.

HOW TO MAKE BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM

Before beginning anything, make sure your ice cream maker is frozen and prepped!

MAKE THE BLACKBERRY SYRUP

STEP #1

Add the blackberries, sugar, and cornstarch to a small sauce pan. Cook over medium-low heat while you mash the berries and stir the sauce. Cook for about 5 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.

STEP #2

Using a mesh strainer, press the sauce into a small bowl to remove the seeds, then place the strained syrup into the refrigerator until you need it. You can discard the seeds and flesh remains.

MAKE THE BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM BASE

STEP #3

Add the blackberries and sugar to a medium sized bowl. Stir together while slightly mashing the berries, then allow the mixture to sit for 15 minutes.

STEP #4

Blend the blackberry and sugar mixture in a blender or food processor until well-blended, then press the mixture through a mesh strainer into a large bowl. You can discard the seeds and flesh remains.

STEP #5

Place the prepared ice cream maker attachment onto stand mixer fitted with the dasher.

STEP #6

To the large bowl with the blackberry mixture, add the heavy cream, milk, vanilla, and salt and whisk until everything is combined and the sugar starts to dissolve.

STEP #7

Turn on the mixer so dasher is rotating and slowly pour ice cream mixture into the canister. Process according to manufacturer’s directions (it should take about 20-30 minutes).

ASSEMBLE THE ICE CREAM AND SWIRL

STEP #8

When ice cream is finished churning, remove the ice cream maker from the mixer. Pour about ⅓ of the ice cream into a freezer-safe pan (I like to use a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan), then layer on top of the ice cream about ⅓ of the blackberry syrup, then another layer of ⅓ of the ice cream and ⅓ of the syrup, and finishing with the remaining ice cream and syrup.

STEP #9

Using a butter knife, swirl the sauce into the ice cream a few times then freeze for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight, until ice cream is firm enough to scoop.