Ice Cream and Blackberries

Nothing signifies late spring (technically middle of the spring but Louisiana gets hot fast) like black berries ripening. Where I grew up, they grew wild in ditches in the pastures and “back the levee” (while technically it is “back of the levee” everyone calls it “back the levee” – I know it lacks a preposition – my college roommates have already failed at fixing that) in sunnier areas. 

We always called it picking blackberries, but the hipper, trender term would be foraging blackberries. Call it what you want but purple fingers and scratched dorsums (learned that word from my cousin, Dr. Beana, which is the official word for the top of the hands) are sure signs of an abundant harvest. The only rule is the picker eats as many berries off of the bush as they want, but none from the bucket. 

Wild blackberries are more flavorful and tarter than their commercial counterparts. The wild ones are absolutely better. Are they super consistent, absolutely not. On my last trip home we picked gallons of berries. On the counter we had a bowl of blackberries from the ditch and a pitcher of berries from back the levee. The ones back the levee were noticeably larger and had more flavor complexity and intensity than the ones from the ditch. Was it a different variety, type of soil, moisture levels in the soil, or amount of sunlight that caused the difference? I’m not really sure. 

Pro tip: Pick blackberries after the sun rises and the humidity lowers. If you pick them too early in the morning, they’ll seem mushy. Wear closed toe shoes, long pants, and long sleeves. Pass a long stick along the ground to ward off snakes.

Now to the ice cream. I love fruit in my ice cream, but it needs to have a dominant vanilla flavor. I like strawberries in my ice cream, but am not a fan of strawberry ice cream. My dad sent me back on my last trip north with a couple of bags of blackberry pie filling my mom made from our harvest. I was giddy with excitement when I had the idea to make ice cream with blackberry swirls. 

I always remember my mom making ice cream, often for those special Sunday dinners. We’d drag down the ice cream maker and fill the exterior with ice and salt while my cooked the base. It would be soft and creamy when it was finished, almost like a soft serve ice cream. The leftovers would freeze ice-hard (I’ve learned a method of how to avoid this) so you might as well eat it all.

This recipe is my grandma’s, affectionately known as Rube since Ruby is much too long of a name. While I ate gallons of ice cream at her house growing up, I never remember her making it. My dad said they had a crank machine and the kids would take turns churning it. If you churned first, it was easy. If you churned last, it was hard, but you got to eat the ice cream off of the paddle.

If you don’t believe me how loved this recipe is, here’s a copy of it. Any recipe that looks like that means BUSINESS.

Note: Technically, this ice cream is frozen custard because it has eggs in it. No one has ever called it that so please don’t get caught up in technicalities.

Vanilla Ice Cream Ingredients
4 egg yolks
½ c sugar
1 c heavy whipping cream
2 c milk
⅛ tsp salt
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean
¾ c blackberry preserves, refrigerator cold (optional)

Vanilla Ice Cream Directions
Put a glass or metal bowl on top of a pot with simmering water. The bowl shouldn’t touch the water. Whisk together the 4 egg yolks and ½ c sugar until the sugar dissolves. Slowly whisk in 1 c heavy whipping cream, 2 c milk, and ⅛ tsp of salt. When combined, occasionally whisk the mixture until it comes to 170 degrees. The mixture will be thicker than when you started, but not thick enough to coat the back of a spoon.

Remove it from the heat and stir in 1 ½ tsp of vanilla extract.

Put a piece of Saran Wrap touching the custard. Allow it to come to room temperature and refrigerate it at least 12 hours.

Place an empty container for the ice cream in the freezer. Follow the directions on the ice cream maker.

Once the ice cream is churned, immediately put a layer of ice cream on the bottom of the container that was in the freezer. Take a spoon (or put it in a piping bag with a medium size tip. and put a couple of lines of blackberry preserves across the width of the container. Make sure your line isn’t too thick or it will be icy when it freezes.  Put another layer of ice cream and repeat with the lines of preserves until all of the ice cream is used. Immediately put it in the freezer. Freeze for at least 4 hours.

Allow to thaw about 10 minutes on the counter before serving.

Notes:
You can add 1 ½ c of small pieces of fresh fruit or other mixins to the ice cream maker about 5 minutes before it finishes churning.

Because pie filling has a higher amount of liquid than preserves, I boiled down the pie filling until it was thick like preserves. If you have too much liquid, it will become an icy ribbon.

If you use a vanilla bean, you can infuse it in the custard or scrape the pod. I haven’t used vanilla beans so I’m not able to give you details.