Blackberry Ice Cream

A great way to showcase and enjoy fresh blackberries this summer is in this fruitylicious, creamy, beautifully purple-hued ice cream.  It takes a little time to make and you do need an ice cream maker, but if you love blackberries this will be a worthwhile treat.

Recipe: 
Blackberry Puree
2 cups fresh blackberries
1/3 cup sugar
Cream Base
4 extra large egg yolks
1/2 cup sugar, divided
1 3/4 cups heavy cream
3/4 cup 2 % milk
1/4 tsp kosher salt
Combine the berries with the sugar in a small saucepan and stir well, put on medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the berries are soft and the liquid they release has reduced some, about 10 mins.  Let cool slightly, the transfer the berries and their juice to a food processor and puree until smooth.  Strain half of the puree through a mesh strainer and discard the solids.  Combine the strained and unstrained berries together, cover and refrigerate.  For the base whisk the yolks in a heatproof bowl, then whisk in 1/4 cup of the sugar, set aside.  In a heavy saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, salt and remaining 1/4 cup sugar and set the pan over medium-high heat.  When the mixture just approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.  Carefully scoop out about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture and add to egg mixture while whisking the eggs constantly.  Repeat adding another 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture to the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Then using a heat proof rubber spatula/spoon, stir the cream in the saucepan as you slowly pour the egg-cream mixture into it.  Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened and coats the back of a spatula, about 2 minutes longer.  Strain the base mixture through a mesh strainer into a clean container, set container over an ice bath and stir mixture occasionally until it is cool.  Remove container from ice bath, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours till chilled.  Whisk together the blackberry puree with the base mixture and freeze in your ice cream machine about 20 minutes or according to manufacturers instructions.  Transfer to a container, cover and put in freezer until frozen as desired and a scoop-able consistency, about 4 hours or overnight. 

This recipe is adapted from Sweet Cream and Sugar Cones, a great ice cream recipe book, available here:
http://astore.amazon.com/rosscoubak-20/detail/1607741849

Enjoy!