Blackberry Ice Cream

adapted from Raspberry Ice Cream in The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

2 cups half-and-half
1 1/3 cup sugar
2 cups heavy cream
5 large egg yolks
2 cups strained blackberry purée (from about 4 cups whole blackberries)
1 1/2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Warm half-and-half and sugar in medium saucepan. Pour cream into large bowl and set mesh strainer over top. In separate medium bowl, whisk together egg yolks. Slowly pour warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into saucepan. Stir mixture constantly over med heat with heatproof spatula, scraping bottom as you stir until mixture thickens and coats spatula. Pour custard through the strainer and stir into cream. Mix in purée and lemon juice then stir until cool over ice bath. Chill thoroughly in fridge and churn ice cream according to ice cream maker’s instructions within 4 hours after making mixture (to preserve the fresh berry taste). Makes 2 quarts before freezing.


Oh my, this has to be one of the best homemade ice cream flavors I have ever made. The custard base made it nice and rich and it came out so smooth and fruity. It was definitely worth the work of straining all of the seeds and pulp to make the purée. I used a 1/2 pint of blackberries that I bought at the farmer's market and a 1 lb. bag of frozen blackberries (defrosted in fridge) from the grocery store to get 2 cups of purée. Even then, it was still a pretty pricey dessert, but so tasty!