Last week, I shared my discovery of a local park that has over 3,300 blueberry bushes…that locals are welcome to pick from for FREE. However, we timed our visit a bit on the early side and only managed to pick about 3 cups worth of blueberries in an hour. (I’m told we should wait another couple weeks, then there will be blueberries galore!)
My son had the brilliant idea of turning our blueberries into homemade ice cream! It sounded delicious and easy enough. Besides that, my husband received a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker a couple years ago as a gift from his mom, and we need to put it to more use! (PS – If you want one of your own, this best-selling Cuisinart frozen yogurt-ice cream maker is currently ~$70 on Amazon.)
I found a very simple recipe over at Food.com. However, a warning: while this recipe is indeed easy to make, it requires an abundance of patience. This can be difficult if you have little ones (or bigger ones) chomping at the bit for homemade ice cream! I promise you this ice cream will be worth the wait.
Ingredients
- 4 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen*
- 4 cups half & half
- 2 cups sugar
- 2 tbsp water
*We only had 3 cups of blueberries, so I substituted with 1 cup of frozen strawberries from our strawberry picking trip last month. It turned out delicious, which leads me to believe you could really work with any combination of berries you see fit – raspberries, blackberries, tayberries, etc.
Bring the berries, sugar, and water to a boil. Then reduce the heat and let simmer until the berries are soft.
This part took me about 10 minutes or so.
Strain out the seeds and skins. I did this put putting it through a sieve with a large bowl underneath. I then took the back of a spoon and pressed and pressed the mixture to squeeze out every bit of goodness I could. While it might be a little OCD, I then Vitamix’d the juice just to puree any bits of skin or seed that might have snuck through.
The result is more or less sweetened berry juice.
Whisk in the four cups of half and half. Now if that seems really fatty to you, I suppose one could cut it with skim milk. Or perhaps make a dairy-free version using almond or soy milk. (I just didn’t try either and can’t verify what the final result may be.)
Refrigerate the mixture overnight. While you’re at, put the drum to your ice cream maker in the freezer.
The next day, pour the mixture into the frozen ice cream maker drum. I found it to fit just perfectly!
I then turned my Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker on for about 15 minutes. This ice cream maker is one of those gadgets that’s fun to have around, but I get you might not want to run out and spend $50 for one right now. Consider adding it to a wishlist for Christmas or your next birthday. It’s also a nice thing to have if you like ice cream but would like more control of the ingredients involved.
Now…time for, yes, more waiting. I removed the mixture from the drum and put it in a freezer-safe glass container for a couple hours.
The result? Definitely worth the wait! For the complete instructions along with reviews and modifications, please see Food.com.
Have you ever made your own ice cream before? Any other ideas for modifying today’s recipe?
Kendra says
I bought an icecream maker last summer from Target clearance. We finally brought it out this year and I’m hooked on making my own! My husband is allergic to milk so we’ve been experimenting with dairy free ice creams. So far we have done Cherry Sorbet (both bing & rainier) and Coconut Strawberry icecream using coconut milk. My next attempt is going to be using hemp milk. Since it has a higher fat content than some other non-dairy milks (soy, almond, rice) I’m hoping that it will come out creamy.
Angela Russell says
I’ve gotten a few comments about dairy-free now… I think I will have to attempt a dairy-free version later this week. I have an idea in mind already. Here’s hoping it turns out good enough to be blog-worthy!
Kendra says
Here are the recipes I used (they are sized for a 4 qt ice cream maker): https://www.bkdarr.com/2013/07/delicious-homemade-dairy-free-ice-cream.html
The coconut one ended up super rich so the sugar could easily be decreased.
Randi says
I just made blueberry sorbet in my ice cream maker. Simple to make and so fruity! I’ve also made watermelon mint sorbet, rhubarb sorbet, raspberry sorbet, strawberry ice cream, pumpkin ginger snap ice cream and salted caramel ice cream. I freeze the end product in 1cup size glad containers. Then every kid (ok and big kid) gets the same amount. Fair is fair.
Angela Russell says
Oh.my.goodness. Pumpkin Ginger Snap Ice Cream? Salted Caramel? I’m so drooling over here right now…. I’ve been craving some pumpkin stuff lately… it’s never too early, right?
Danielle says
I just bought that ice cream maker at JCPenny on the 4th of July for $30! Such a good deal! I think I’m gunna try your recipe. We have blueberry bushes so maybe I can get enough to make this. I’ve made dark chocolate ice cream and other variations of chocolate and we just wash and put that freezer bowl back in the freezer every time so it’s ready whenever. Most my recipes say to put your mixture back in the fridge for at least an hour so you do have to have some patience but it turns out delicious!!!!
Angela Russell says
OH! $30 is a REALLY good deal – score! Again, if you end up not having enough blueberries, you could easily substitute with any other berry you might have laying around. Enjoy!!