Blueberry Ice Cream
ShareCreamy homemade blueberry ice cream, bursting with flavor! A fun way to indulge in your favorite Summer fruit!
I’m in a weird limbo right now. I’m craving Fall flavors like crazy, while trying to savor all that Summer still has to offer. I’ve already started my Fall recipe baking which certainly isn’t helping my situation any. My favorite local apple farm opened up for the season this week, which has me super giddy. I’m ready to go buy bushel after bushel, but I’m also trying to resist a bit. My absolute favorite variety won’t be available till mid-September at the earliest. We’re almost there but it’s still so far away!
I’m ready for the busy Fall schedules, but I’m not ready for Summer break to be over. It goes by so fast! Fingers crossed for some amazing weather to ring out August. Normally August weather takes a nose dive for us. I love the cooler days, but I’d also love to get some more swimming in before we call it quits for the season. The hard part about living in the northern part of the country is a shorter Summer and swim season, but the payoff is a gorgeous Fall. Again with being in a weird limbo state. I wish I could have the perfect blend of Summer and Fall.
I made this blueberry ice cream a few weeks ago, full well knowing that it would likely be the last homemade ice cream of the season. That doesn’t mean I’m done. It is fully a year round treat in my book. I hope it is for you too!
The great thing about this ice cream, it’s not just a Summer treat because you can use fresh or frozen blueberries! Enjoy your favorite creamy homemade blueberry ice cream any time of the year!
This blueberry ice cream recipe is perfectly sweet, creamy and bursting with fresh blueberry flavor! It’s a must make.
Grab a scoop while you can, it’s sure to disappear fast!
Blueberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 2 C blueberries fresh or frozen
- 1 C granulated sugar divided
- 1 Tb lemon juice
- 2 C heavy cream
- 1 C whole milk
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 3 large egg yolks
Instructions
- Combine 1/4 cup sugar, blueberries and lemon juice in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and mash berries. Puree blueberry mixture, then strain through a fine mesh strainer. Set aside.
- Add 1 cup heavy cream and vanilla to a medium bowl with a mesh strainer set on top.
- Combine milk, remaining heavy cream, sugar and salt to a medium saucepan set over medium heat. Stir to dissolve sugar.
- Whisk egg yolks in a small bowl.
- When milk mixture begins to steam, slowly drizzle 1 cup warm liquid into the yolks, while continuously whisking. Pour egg mixture into sacuepan, followed by blueberry puree. Stir to combine. Continue cooking until mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon or rubber spatula.
- Pour through mesh strainer into reserved heavy cream. Stir and cool over an ice bath to room temperature. Cover and chill thoroughly, 4-6 hours or overnight.
- Churn according to manufacturer's directions.
- Transfer churned ice cream to a freezer safe container. Cover and freeze until solid.
Notes
I know, I’m in that same weird place Rachel. Hurry up fall, but linger summer….and we are planning to go apple picking this weekend. Can’t wait. Tonight we’re headed to Prescott Park for the Peter Pan play in Portsmouth…more summer fun. Guessing you know all about that. Your ice cream looks divine. Love that gorgeous purple color. So delicious in those waffle cones! Yum!
I’m trying my hardest to hold out on getting apples but I might have to cave before long. They’re just too good straight from the farm! :) I hope you enjoyed the play!
The color is so PURPLE!!! It just looks so dreamy. I’ve also been experiencing this weird it’s still summer but my brain wants fall dilemma!
I’m glad I’m not alone with the limbo issue! :)
Dear Rachel, I find myself feeling the same way. Fall is my favorite season yet I feel like this summer just flew by so quickly and I never got to fully enjoy it. I’m still holding on to homemade ice cream though…a perfect way to savor summer. Your ice cream sounds delightful and looks beautiful. I love the color! xo, Catherine
Thanks so much Catherine! :)
Oh my gosh the color of this ice cream!!! I’m in love :)
Thanks Aimee! :)
This ice cream is so beautiful and dreamy! I love the deep indigo color. Perfect for summer! :D
Thanks Lauren!
I am in the same limbo right now! Craving fall yet can’t let go of the summer veggies and fruits. Also, I can’t get over how gorgeous the color of this ice cream is! Stunning!
I wish we could have the best of both seasons all year round! :)
i bought ice cream maker 2 summers ago and it is collecting dust as i type this. i cant get over how beautiful and bright this ice cream looks. send me some icecream vibes.
Dust that baby off and whip up some ice cream! :)
This is seriously the prettiest ice cream I have ever seen.
Thanks Amy! :)
Oh my word the color of this is simply gorgeous! Pretty and delicious!
Thanks Erin! :)
Most amazing ice cream color ever! And gorgeous photos as usual!!
Thanks so much Lauren!
That’s the prettiest ice cream I’ve ever seen! Pinning and sharing <3
Thanks so much Sue! :)
Rachel I can’t believe the color on this ice cream! It’s gorgeous! I live in California, which has it’s perks but an amazing fall is not one of them. We lived in Indiana for a couple years for grad school, and I totally miss the leaves and huge trees. Nothing compares!
I’d miss the leaves for sure if I ever moved away! You definitely get some amazing weather in CA though!! :)
That is pretty amazing color!
Thanks Medeja!
Now this look like the most perfect ice cream!
Thanks Julianne! :)
What a perfect ice cream…amazing!
Thanks so much! :)
This ice cream is STUNNING. I would almost not want to eat it because it’s so pretty, but obviously that wouldn’t last long because it sounds so yummy. ;)
Thanks so much Stephanie! :)
This ice cream looks delicious and beautiful. I’m totally craving fall stuff, too, but there are still so many great things to be eaten this summer – especially blueberries!
Thanks Melissa! :)
I made your blueberry ice cream recipe in mid August and it is simply the very best ice cream recipe I have ever made…and I am an ice cream officianado, or so I like to think. So creamy and flavourful, worth spending the extra money on wild blueberries when in season. absolutely delicious, and thank you. I have been searching for a blueberry ice cream recipe for a long time, and now the search is over.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Nikki! Thanks so much for sharing. :)
Hello, this is good recipes, specially I adored the colors. But I made a mixture of recipes (it’s a good or bad, no idea). Because I couldn’t be sure about eggs, I never do before, it was first time.
I featured this recipe on my blog so you check it. I put a link.
On my future ice creams, Ä° will try the exact recipe.
Have a nice day!
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks so much for sharing :)
Hi, could I do this recipe without an ice cream machine? Example: freezing the mix overnight, then after 10 min (to soften the frozen mix), whisk it for ten minutes with an electric mixer and then put it to the freezer again until ready. I do this to make ice cream but I don’t know if it will work with this recipe. What do you think? any recommendation? Thanks in advance.
I haven’t ever tried your method so I truly can’t be sure how it would turn out. But there’s only one way to know! Let me know if you end up trying it! :)
Ok, so I get that this is supposed to serve 4-6, but how much ice cream does it actually make? I made the sauce (for lack of a better word from my sleep-deprived brain) last night and just put it into my ice cram freezer this morning. It certainly doesn’t fill the bowl of the machine (which holds 2 qts), so I don’t know if that’s correct or if I let it go for too long in step 5 when everything was in the pot (everything but the extra cream/vanilla).
Though I will say, it looks amazing right now, and I was tempted to eat it without freezing it last night! Yummy! Good work!
My machine holds up to 1.5 quarts. However, if you have a 2 quart you may be able to churn it to a slightly larger quantity than I would. Keep in mind that it doesn’t get it’s body until it’s being churned. When you add it to the ice cream maker, it should only reach maybe half way up the machine. If it’s already to the top before churning, you’re going to have a big mess on your hands.
I made this last night. It was delicious! I am pregnant and leery o using egg yolks uncooked, so I used egg beaters and it turned out just fine.
I also misread the vanilla as T., not tsp. so the vanilla overpowered the blueberry flavor. Regardless, I will be saving this recipe and trying I again (this time with the correct amount of vanilla) ;-)
You should be fine enjoying it with egg yolks since they’re being heated and not eaten raw. I’m glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Andrea! :)
Hi, I was wondering what ice cream maker you use. I plan to start cooking more often in the summer and want to start at the right place :)
I use a basic 1 1/2 quart Cuisinart ice cream maker. There are many ice cream makers on the market now, I’m sure they would all do the job well.
In paragraph 5 of the directions, what is the warm liquid you drizzle over the egg yolks? Can’t wait to make this. Going blueberry picking today.
The warm milk mixture you’ve created by that point.
This looks amazing and I love blueberries. Is there an alternative to using milk and cream? Could I substitute coconut milk for the diary?
You can definitely substitute with coconut milk. Enjoy! :)
I had company from Denmark, and used local fresh Blueberries. It was a hit.
I am new to making ice cream, and I will making this again?
So glad everyone enjoyed the ice cream! Thanks for sharing, Brenda! :)
do you have the nutritional information for this recipe?
I don’t supply that information, but there are free online nutritional calculators that you can use to figure that info out.
This sounds amazing! I am going to make this with my five year old son. However, I do not have any lemon juice on hand. I have orange juice though (pulp free). Would that work instead possibly?
Since it’s such a small amount, I’m sure the substitution will be fine. Enjoy! :)
Has anyone tried this recipe without egg? I have an allergy but this looks too pretty to pass up!
You can typically skip the eggs if necessary. Just keep in mind that doing so will make the ice cream freeze more solid, so it will need to sit out longer before scooping. You can also try adding a small amount of unflavored vodka to the mix, which should help keep it from freezing too solid. Good luck! :)
This is the prettiest looking ice cream I’ve ever seen and I can’t wait to get home next week to make it! I know this is an old post, but is there seriously no colouring added other than the blueberries? WOW!
Not a drop of extra color. It’s all from the blueberries. Enjoy!! :)
I made this, but the color was not as vibrant as yours. Do you know where I could be going wrong?
Without being there to see your process, I can’t be sure. However, it could be as simple as your berries. As long as it tastes fine, I wouldn’t worry about it. :)
May I ask the measurements in grams?
I don’t have those measurements, but you may be able to calculate it with a free online conversion calculator. Good luck.
Mine didn’t turn out nearly as pretty. Your blueberries must’ve been nearly black! 😉 Maybe next time I’ll use more blues and cook them down to a sort of concentrate.
The color will absolutely vary from one batch of blueberries to another.
This was the most delicious icecream! I loved the consistency! I made it for my MIL’s birthday and it was the real favorite!! Everyone went. Ask for seconds and thirds!
So glad everyone enjoyed it! Thanks for sharing, Leslie! :)
Just stumbled across this recipe in trying to figure out what to do with a couple gallons of fresh blueberries – DELICIOUS!! And the color mine turned out the same lovely color as yours!! :) Just because of what I had (and didn’t have) on hand, I ended up using 2 cups of 2% milk and 1 cup of heavy cream and it turned out just fine; still super rich. I realize that the sweetness of the fruit can vary widely as well, so next time if my blueberries are this sweet on their own, I’ll probably cut the sugar back to 1/2 cup – I just don’t think it needed that much sugar.
So glad you enjoyed it, Elizabeth! Every batch of fruit definitely needs different amounts of sugar. Feel free to adjust in the future to your liking and as needed. :)
Thanks for this recipe. Used it with freshly picked blueberries and it was amazing. The only change I made was using maple syrup in place of the sugar. Will definitely be using your recipe again throughout the blueberry season.
So glad you enjoyed it, Todd! Thanks for sharing. :)
Lovely recipe! I’m about to get started but I’m a tiny bit stuck–on step 1! :( Do you add any water to boil the berries with? Or is it strictly lemon juice, sugar, and berries? My toddler is sick and asked for “purple ice cream” so I’m trying this out. Thank you!
No water is needed. I hope you both enjoy the ice cream! :)
I made this ice cream over the summer and am making it again for Thanksgiving. This is the best blueberry ice cream-EVER. Everyone liked it.
So glad to hear you’ve enjoyed it so much, Debbie! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and thanks for sharing! :)
Love the color on yours! When I made mine, the color lightened after freezing in the ice cream maker. Does freezing lighten it somehow? It never was as purple as yours in the beginning though. Also, did you have any problems with the blueberry puree curdling the milk? My hot milk/egg yolk mixture looked fine but once I put the puree in, the milk curdled (happened on 2 attempts). On my third try, I cooked the custard first, let it cool to almost room temperature, then mixed the puree in. No issues then. Thanks for the recipe!
Every batch of blueberries will offer a slightly different shade in the final ice cream. Yes, the churning process will typically lighten the overall shade a bit. As far as your curdling issue goes, it sounds as though your berry mixture was too hot when you added it to the dairy. I haven’t had that issue and this is the first I’ve heard of it happening to anyone. I’m glad you were able to get it to work! :)
I dont understand how you get the pretty color, or how you avoid the texture of fresh fruit in your photographs. Mine turned out a blue gray.
It could be as simple as the berries you used, not having quite as bright of a shade as mine did.
thanks for the recipe.
But I didn’t understand about the blueberry mixture.
I mash the berries and pour it to the strain.
What part of the blueberries do I add to the egg/cream-mixture?
The puree or the blueberry-juice?
And if I poor in the puree-mix, what do I do with the blueberry-juice thats left? Just throw it out?
You need to puree the blueberry mixture in it’s entirety and then pour through a mesh strainer to grab any pieces that weren’t blended properly. What goes through the strainer is what you’ll be using for the recipe.
I’m allergic to milk, is there a substitute I can use for the milk and heavy cream?
You can substitute with 3 cups worth of canned coconut milk for a dairy free option. :)
Do you need a churn? I do not have one, is there a way I can make it without one?
For best results, churning in an ice cream machine is recommended. It helps to not only partially freeze the mixture but also adds volume to it. You can try to beat some of the mixture by hand to add air and volume to it prior to freezing but it won’t be quiet the same.
Made this to the letter of the recipe and it does not taste like blueberries at all :( I think maybe it was the quality of my blueberries that let it down.
I would recommend repeating step 1 to make some more blueberry puree, and put it in for the last minute of churning in your ice cream maker so that it swirls through without mixing in.
The flavor of blueberries can definitely vary from one batch to another – per location and even if it’s in season or not.
Could I use this recipe but substitute blackberries instead of blueberries?
Absolutely! Enjoy! :)
I made this with fresh blueberries grown by my husband. It was so creamy, and we could really taste the blueberries. I wish I knew about this recipe before. I will definitely make this again next year because, unfortunately, our blueberry season is over with the hot weather in Sacramento, Ca.
So glad you both enjoyed it!
I made this today. I added 1/2 tsp of cinnamon (like I do with blueberry pie). It was delicious.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Came across this recipe and going to make it. We have blueberry bushes and I have not made ice cream. So excited to try. I do have one question: I only have a 4-quart ice cream maker – can this recipe be doubled?
It shouldn’t be an issue to double the recipe. Enjoy!