Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Hold the phone. Sour cream. In ice cream? Absolutely. Just go with me on this one.

Adam and I both have a huge sweet tooth when it comes to sour candy. Okay, not just huge -- ginormous. Nerds, Sour Punch Straws, Sour Jolly Ranchers, Sour Gummy Worms... you name it, we love it. It is a rare occurrence to not find a bag of Sour Patch Kids or the like stashed around the kitchen. And I say "stashed" because I am most likely hiding it from Adam.

Needless to say, when there's a pint of blueberries around, we generally try to pick out the small little tart berries while the other person isn't looking.

Two years in a row I have insisted on going to pick my own blueberries. And two years in a row, I have missed it. This year, we caught the very tail end of the U-pick season, and ended up buying some already picked blueberries at the farm. Before we even left for the farm I already knew where those berries were going to end up. I was going to combine our two favorite summer treats -- blueberries and ice cream.

Typically, blueberries are found in sherbets or sorbets, not ice cream. Yet I kept going back to the infamous Strawberry Sour Cream Ice Cream from David Lebovitz I kept seeing around the web. "The sweet pairs with the tart from the sour cream so well!" So why can't the blueberry?

Tart with tart. Right up our alley. It's like sour candy meets ice cream. Can it get any better?

Blueberry Sour Cream Ice Cream

Adapted from: David Lebovitz , The Perfect Scoop

1 pound fresh blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vodka
1 cup sour cream
1 cup heavy cream
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Place the blueberries in a medium bowl. Using the back of a fork, smash the blueberries until juices are released (does not have to be completely pulverized). Stir in the sugar and vodka until the sugar starts to dissolve. Cover and let rest at room temperature for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Place the blueberry mixture, sour cream, heavy cream, and lemon juice in a food processor. Blend until mixture is almost smooth -- there will still be chunks of blueberry skins. Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Transfer cream mixture to your ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.

Makes: about 1 1/4 quarts (10 1/2-cup servings)

So the ice cream may not be lip-puckering sour, but it definitely has a nice tartness to it. One I don't think you'd get without the sour cream. Just don't think of it as a taco topping when you're adding it in... it's a cream, with a tang. That's all. You'll thank me for it.

The texture may not be quite as creamy as some of the previous ice creams I've made, but it's still rich and fluffy, just the way ice cream should be.

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 97g
Amount per serving
Calories 176	Calories from fat 83
% Daily Value
Total Fat 9.3g	14%
Saturated Fat 5.8g	29%
Cholesterol 27mg	9%
Sodium 17mg	1%
Total Carbs 21.3g	7%
Fiber 0.9g	4%
Sugars 15.0g
Protein 1.0g
Vitamin A 7%	Vitamin C 1%
Calcium 3%	Iron 0%

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Ice cream always makes me think of long summer days spent by the pool without a care in the world. Hot sun and flip flops. The smell of the ocean and wandering along the beach trying to pick up shells that aren't smashed into a thousand pieces.

Ice cream reminds me of church camp and soccer camp, and that soft serve machine that I always found in the cafeteria. Of course I would use every single topping imaginable to cover the soft serve, but the ice cream was still buried somewhere beneath.

Ice cream reminds me of when my sister was pregnant with my first nephew, and nightly trips to the Carvel down the road was almost a ritual. Then we discovered Fudgie the Whale. And Coldstone's Cake Batter Ice Cream. Our pants have never fit the same since.

So naturally, I wanted to make ice cream at home. The first time I made it, it was without an ice cream freezer. Lots of babysitting and mixing. Then I received the ice cream maker attachment for my stand mixer. I finally made room for it in my freezer, and after just one batch, I am in love. As is Adam. I honestly can't remember the last time he hoarded one of my desserts, and called it "the best ___________ ever", each time he ate it. Actually, I'm pretty sure the repeated "best ever" comment has never happened. So, I think I'm going to go with winner on this one.

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

Adapted from: Taste of Home, August/September 2003

1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup water
1 1/4 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 tablespoon lemon juice

2 1/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup butter, melted

1 1/2 cups sugar
1 (3.4 ounce) package instant cheesecake pudding mix
1 quart heavy whipping cream
2 cups milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and cornstarch. Slowly whisk in water until smooth. Turn burner on to high. Stir in blueberries and lemon juice; bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered for 5 minutes, or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Cover and place in refrigerator until chilled, at least 1 hour.

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Place graham crackers in a food processor and process until a fine crumb forms (may need to do in batches). Transfer crumbs to a large bowl. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and cinnamon. Pour in butter, stirring until all dry ingredients are covered. Pat crumb mixture across a 15x10-inch baking pan. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Transfer pan to a wire rack and allow to cool completely. Crumble into nickel-sized chunks.

In a separate large bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups sugar, pudding mix, cream, milk, and vanilla. Pour mixture into an ice cream freezer until two-thirds full. Freeze according to manufacturer's directions. If there is remaining mixture, refrigerate until ready to freeze (whisk before adding to the ice cream freezer; there may be lumps).

Fill ice cream freezer cylinder two-thirds full; freeze according to manufacturer's directions. Refrigerate remaining mixture until ready to freeze. Whisk before adding to ice cream freezer (mixture will have some lumps).

Once the ice cream is finished in the ice cream freezer, layer in a large container with the graham cracker crumble and blueberry sauce three times. Swirl. Place container in freezer for 2-4 hours before eating.

Makes: 2 quarts

I have to admit, despite using the pudding mix (which I was a little skeptical about at first), this ice cream completely lives up to its name. The cheesecake flavor is pronounced, dotted with a bit of blueberry and crumbled graham cracker crust (which might actually be my favorite part).

The actual ice cream turned out nice and creamy, not icy. This is mostly due to the use of heavy cream. If you've never made ice cream before, keep in mind that switching out the heavy cream for a lower fat dairy item, such as half and half or even milk, will drastically change the texture. The only thing I would change the use of fresh blueberries instead of frozen. The blueberry sauce gets slightly icy once the ice cream is firm, and I'm not sure if thawing the blueberries, then re-freezing them causes larger ice crystals to form. Either way, it's still delicious and still Adam's "favorite ice cream ever".

Disclaimer: if you are on a diet or whatnot, I do not recommend making this ice cream. If you are particular about how many calories you are eating per day, don't make this ice cream. If you even care a smidge about the nutrition facts, just don't scroll down. It will completely ruin this ice cream for you. I know it did for me. The original recipe claims that this is less than 500 calories per serving. After analyzing it with 2 separate programs, I can assure you, this ice cream is not under 500 calories per serving. Some things, are just better left unknown.

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 923	Calories from fat 536
% Daily Value
Total Fat 59.5g	92%
Saturated Fat 35.8g	179%
Cholesterol 200mg	67%
Sodium 537mg	22%
Total Carbs 94.6g	32%
Fiber 2.1g	9%
Sugars 74.5g
Protein 6.3g
Vitamin A 45%	Vitamin C 7%
Calcium 16%	Iron 7%

PFB Challenge #4: Homemade Ice Cream... Without A Machine!

Wow. I don't even know how to go about expressing my gratitude to all of you out there who have voted for me. I am truly honored and quite speechless that I have made it to ROUND 4 of Project Food Blog!! To celebrate, I made you something special. It's cold and delicious and I thought it fit right in at this time of year. Ice cream! What's that you say? Ice cream doesn't go with cold and gray and rainy? Oh. Hmmm. Well. I made ice cream!

The fourth round in Project Food Blog challenged us to "...use photography to create a step-by-step, instructional photo tutorial...". Once again this challenge was wide open -- I could do anything, just making sure I took pictures along the way. But what to take pictures of? How to make and frost cupcakes? How to babysit a risotto? I just wasn't really feeling any of it. And then I remembered... what's the one thing I always wish I could make at home, but don't have the equipment for? Ice cream!

All summer long I saw post after post of delicious and unique ice cream combinations pop up on different blogs. Rather than bookmarking them for later, I simply scrolled past, mourning the fact that I was unable to try out these delectable looking treats. I was bummed. I've never had homemade ice cream, and it appeared I never would. Until I decided to say, "I wonder..." and Google: How to make ice cream without a machine. Bingo!

David Lebovitz is pretty much considered the know-all-be-all when it comes to ice cream, and lucky for me he has a tutorial on how to make ice cream without an ice cream machine. It really was possible. I was starting to get excited.

First things first. I hopped on over to the library to pick up his ice cream bible, The Perfect Scoop and decide from there what kind of ice cream I was going to make. Okay, well, that was an easy choice -- chocolate ice cream with fudge ripple. After a quick trip to the grocery I was ready to go. Are you ready for this? Because I am!

How to Make Ice Cream Without A Machine

Now, there are two styles of ice cream out there - French-style or Philadelphia-style. The French-style is a custard-based ice cream, and is the type recommended for this method (which is what I decided to do).

Gather your ingredients

2 cups heavy cream (Lebovitz also says you can interchange heavy cream with whipping cream, which is what I did here)
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk (no substitutions!)
3/4 cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 large egg yolks
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Let's get a few things organized and ready to go before starting:

We need 5 egg yolks. I like to use my fancy-schmancy egg separator, mostly because I tend to break the yolks when going back and forth between the two shell halves, or drop the yolk when just using my hand.

While we're at it, might as well whisk those babies up.

Mmmm chocolate. Ah! Focus! Focus!

Chop that lovely bar of goodness into small pieces. We're going for about 1/4" pieces here.

Alright, I think we're ready to start.

We need a cup of cream and the cocoa in a medium saucepan. Stat.

Whisk it all together

Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a low boil for 30 seconds. Don't stop that whisking!

The cream and cocoa at a low boil

Get that bad boy off the heat and add in the chopped chocolate.

Keep stirring until it looks luscious and smooth.


I think I might just drink this now.

Add in the remaining cream. (Keep stirring!)

Now transfer this chocolatey goodness to a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible. Then set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

In the same saucepan, warm the milk, sugar, and salt. Using a candy thermometer for this stage is also a good idea.


It's typically a good idea to dump your ingredients into the saucepan, not all over your spatula. Do as I say, not as I do.

Remember those egg yolks? It's time to put them to good use. Slowly, slowly add your milk mixture into the bowl of egg yolks. Whisk! Whisk! Whisk! We don't want scrambled eggs! (This is also referred to as tempering the eggs.)

Once everybody is in the bowl, move the party back to the saucepan.

And surprise! Guess what you get to do? Keep stirring!

Bring the custard to 170 degrees F, or until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.

Wondering what that strainer was for? Why for straining out the little bits of cooked egg of course! Pour your custard (through the strainer) into the bowl with the cream and chocolate mixture. Place the bowl into a larger one with cold water and ice (ice bath). And keep on stirrin' until cool.

Okay, I can't lie. I cheated and didn't stir it the entire time. Because it takes a while for this to chill in the bowl, and I had other things to do. It survived and was fine. (Although I did stir it occasionally, so don't just neglect this guy.) Cover and place the bowl in the fridge for 4-24 hours. Make it easy on yourself and just keep it in there overnight.

Now for the fun babysitting part!

Bring your bowl of chocolate out of the fridge. Strongly consider eating it right then and there. But stop yourself. I promise it gets even better.

Pour the custard into a deep baking dish, something that can hold up in the freezer.

And into the freezer we go.

After 45 minutes, give it a little peek and poke. As it starts to freeze near the edges, remove it from the freezer (no, not time to eat yet) and stir it vigorously with a spatula or whisk. Make sure you break up any clumps and frozen parts. Then back in the freezer it goes.

Dust off your hand mixer, your arm finally gets a rest from all this stirring and whisking. Every 30 minutes for the next 2-3 hours, pull out the mixture and give it a good whirl with the mixer. Make sure to break up any frozen sections or clumps. (You can also use a spatula or whisk for this part too if you don't have a hand mixer.)

After 30 minutes


After 1 hour - it's starting to firm up!


After 1 1/2 hours


2 hours in - it's SO CLOSE!!!


2 1/2 hours -- and done! Well, kind of.

You have now reached the stage that is the equivalent of when the ice cream comes out of the ice cream machine -- soft serve. Give yourself a big pat on the back.

Now, in the meantime of all this, we need to make our Fudge Ripple. The best time to make it is right after you cook your custard, so it can have many many many hours to chill and firm up in the fridge. I made it right after I put the custard in the freezer the first time, and it was still pretty soft by the time I needed to use it. Either way, it still works.

It's actually super quick and easy to make. So there's really no excuse not to. I mean, it's only going to make this ice cream better.

Gather all your ingredients again.

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup (not dark)
1/2 cup water
6 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

And everybody except the vanilla goes in a medium saucepan to play. Heat over medium heat, and once again we are whisking constantly, until the mixture begins to bubble at the edges.

Keep whisking until the mixture comes to a low boil, then cook for 1 minute (don't stop that whisking!). Remove from heat, stir in vanilla, then allow to cool.

Once cool, pour into a bowl or other container (big enough to fit a cup) and chill in the refrigerator.

Now back to our ice cream. It was getting lonely, and I am getting hungry. Hold off! Just a little bit more!

Rummage up a freeze-able container that can hold a bit over a quart.

First start with a layer of that ooey-gooey Fudge Ripple.

Followed by a layer of the chocolate ice cream.

Repeat.

I'm just not sure I handle this deliciousness. Oh wait, silly me. Of course I can.

If you are able to hold out just a bit longer, place your ice cream in the freezer to harden for a bit. I can't tell you how long to let it harden, as I had to leave for class and then a dinner date with friends. But seven hours sure did the trick for me!

Let me just say that I made a beeline for the freezer as soon as I walked in the door. And was not disappointed. I think I might have just died and went to heaven. But then came back because I wanted more ice cream. It was just so rich, and chocolatey, and dense and believe it or not smooth -- even without a fancy-pants machine. Adam said it was the best chocolate ice cream he's ever had. Which is quite impressive. And I kind of tend to agree with him. In a very unbiased way.

Wait a second. What's this white ice cream you see? That would be chocolate chip cookie dough. But that is for another day. :) I'm such a tease.

But seriously. This ice cream is amazing. Even if it's a little needy, and you have to babysit it. Totally.worth.it. I'm not really sure you can beat it... unless... there's bacon involved.

That's right. I went there.

And wow. There are just no words. Well, maybe A.mazing. Or awesome. Or crazy-good. Okay, well that's two words, but you get the idea.

Can I go swimming in ice cream? No? That's disappointing. Guess I'll just have to eat it instead. Darn.

Makes: 8 (1/2-cup) servings

Nutrition Facts
Amount per serving
Calories 413	Calories from fat 189
% Daily Value
Total Fat 21.0g	32%
Saturated Fat 12.1g	61%
Cholesterol 175mg	58%
Sodium 52mg	2%
Total Carbs 58.2g	19%
Dietary Fiber 2.9g	11%
Sugars 46.1g
Protein 5.1g
Vitamin A 13%	Vitamin C 0%
Calcium 8%	Iron 10%