BLACKBERRY ICE CREAM

Makes about 1 quart | When blackberries are ripe and fragrant and sitting on your counter, sometimes it’s all you can do to resist eating them as is, relishing their juicy perfection. If you have enough self-control to save some to make ice cream, though, you’ll be amply rewarded. This ice cream is wonderful sandwiched between our Dark Chocolate Cookies, or served atop a slice of pound cake with whipped cream.

TECHNIQUE: Ice cream

SPECIAL EQUIPMENT: Ice cream machine

CHILLING TIME: 2 hours or overnight

SHELF LIFE: 1 week

INGREDIENTS:

FOR THE BLACKBERRY PURÉE

• 2 half-pint baskets blackberries (2 cups), preferably organic
• ¼ to ½ cup sugar, as needed

FOR THE BASE

• 5 large egg yolks
• ½ cup sugar
• 1¾ cups heavy cream
• ¾ cup 1% or 2% milk
• ¼ teaspoon kosher salt

INSTRUCTIONS:

COOK THE BERRIES

1. Combine the berries with the sugar, using ¼ cup if they are very sweet and ½ cup if less so, in a small nonreactive saucepan and stir well.
2. Put the pan over medium heat and cook, stirring frequently, until the berries are soft and the liquid they release has reduced somewhat, about 10 minutes.
3. Let cool slightly, then transfer the berries and their juice to a blender or food processor.
4. Purée until smooth.
5. Strain half of the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, pressing on the solids to extract as much purée as possible.
6. Discard the solids. Add the unstrained purée to the same bowl and stir once to combine. Cover the bowl and refrigerate.

MAKE THE BASE

1. In a medium heatproof bowl, whisk the yolks just to break them up, then whisk in half of the sugar (¼ cup). Set aside.
2. In a heavy nonreactive saucepan, stir together the cream, milk, salt, and the remaining sugar (¼ cup) and put the pan over medium-high heat.
3. When the mixture approaches a bare simmer, reduce the heat to medium.
4. Carefully scoop out about ½ cup of the hot cream mixture and, whisking the eggs constantly, add the cream to the bowl with the egg yolks.
5. Repeat, adding another ½ cup of the hot cream to the bowl with the yolks.
6. Using a heatproof rubber spatula, stir the cream in the saucepan as you slowly pour the egg-and-cream mixture from the bowl into the pan.
7. Cook the mixture carefully over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it is thickened, coats the back of a spatula, and holds a clear path when you run your finger across the spatula, 1 to 2 minutes longer.
8. Strain the base through a fine-mesh strainer into a clean container.
9. Set the container into an ice-water bath, wash your spatula, and use it to stir the base occasionally until it is cool.
10. Remove the container from the ice-water bath, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate the base for at least 2 hours or overnight.

FREEZE THE ICE CREAM

1. Whisk the blackberry purée into the chilled base.
2. Freeze in your ice cream machine according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
3. While the ice cream is churning, put the container you’ll use to store the ice cream into the freezer.
4. Enjoy right away or, for a firmer ice cream, transfer to the chilled container and freeze for at least 4 hours.

MAKE IT YOUR OWN

• Use raspberries or a combination of blackberries and raspberries.
• Add 1 to 2 tablespoons crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) or bourbon as you whisk the berry purée into the base.

SERVE IT WITH …

• Buttermilk Ice Cream or Honey Lavender Ice Cream
• Hot Fudge Sauce
• Brown Sugar Graham Crackers
• Chopped Marcona almonds