Recipe For Blackberry Ice Cream

There's no better time of the year than winter to make fresh ice cream. Well, at least there's not a better time for me, that is. Having no ice cream machine, winter is the only time of the year that offers plenty of free ice cream making material, snow! I just load up a bucket, pour on some ice cream salt and get to churning. Luckily I was able to catch a great sale on fresh blackberries right as the snow began to fall. Blackberry Ice Cream was set for the menu, and on that cold snowy night, a great recipe was born. Whether churning by hand or by machine, learn how you too can make great this great recipe for blackberry ice cream.

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You'll never hear me recommend a canned or jarred substitute. Go for the real deal! When it comes to any dish (yes, ice cream included), fresh ingredients are always better. If you can't find fresh blackberries, try raspberries, strawberries or blueberries instead.

• 5oz Fresh Blackberries
• 1/3 Cup Sugar (Optional)
• 2 Cups Milk

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For this ice cream to remain smooth and creamy, just the juice of the berries is used. The seeds and more solid parts of the berry are separated and can be saved for smoothies or frozen for later use in sauces, etc.

1. Clean berries and place in a large bowl. Pour sugar over the berries and mash well with a fork.
2. Through a flour sieve, strain out the juice into a separate bowl.

If you have an electric ice cream maker, that's all the better. All you'll have to do is put the recipe together and follow the directions on your machine. For those folks like myself who lack a machine, hand churning is the only option. I've found that filling a bucket with snow (or ice) and placing a gallon size freezer bag in the middle works great to make ice cream. Surround your bag with the snow and ice cream salt mixture and churn in the middle. It can be a painstaking process, but it's well worth it.

1. Combine the berry juice and milk.
2. Churn in a machine or by hand. By hand it took me about 20-25 minutes for my ice cream to set up enough to move to the freezer.
3. Once the mixture has thickened up greatly, but is still overall pretty soft, move it to the freezer to solidify. For hand churners, it's best to pour your ice cream into a bowl before adding it to the freezer.
4. Leave in freezer for about 2 hours.
5. Serve with cobblers, as a milkshake or just by itself with a sprig of mint.

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As simple as this recipe is, it produces high quality ice cream every time. Plus, who doesn't love the amazing purple hue? The great part about the whole deal is that you don't have to feel guilty eating this ice cream. With very little sugar, and nutrient packed berries, you'll actually be doing yourself a favor by eating a few hearty scoops of this frozen treat. Thanks for reading my article discussing a recipe for Blackberry Ice Cream. If you'd like to see other heart healthy options, please be sure to checkout some more of my other great recipes below.