Homemade blueberry ice cream is one of the best parts of living in Oregon in the summertime and this simple recipe is one of my favorites. It’s got a smooth and creamy base, chunks of fresh sweet blueberries, and just the right amount of sugar to make it irresistible. It’s time to pull out your ice cream maker and remind yourself just how easy it is to make your own blueberry ice cream at home.
Thank you Oregon Blueberry Growers for sponsoring today’s post. To learn more, check out their website at OregonBlueberries.
It’s summertime once again and that means it’s time to load up on fresh blueberries from your local U-pick farm. It’s a family outing that’s fun for all ages, as a day spent blueberry picking is a day well spent.
Once you get those blueberries home, you have to decide how to use them while they are still at their peak freshness. This year, my vote goes to this homemade chunky blueberry ice cream.
This version starts with whole blueberries, cooked until they burst open and thicken like small batch jam. Add that to a simple milk and cream base and process it in your ice cream machine for a blueberry ice cream that will have them coming back for more.
Oregon Blueberries
Oregon is one of the nation’s top producers of blueberries, which means we grow some of the best blueberries in the country. Even if you don’t live here, there is a good chance you are able to find Oregon Blueberries in a store near you. All of this makes me so excited to once again work with them this year.
U-pick Farms
If you are here locally, I highly recommend taking the time to check out one of our U-pick farms. Oregon Blueberries provides an updated U-pick blueberry farm list, which is the best resource for finding farms that are open to the public.
You can search by county to find farms in your area. From there you can see who is open for business, their operating hours, and what varieties of blueberries they offer. Great for blueberry lovers of all ages, make it a summer family tradition.
For more great resources on growing your own berries, storage and caring for blueberries, and of course more blueberry recipes head over to their website at Oregon Blueberries.
Making Blueberry Ice Cream
This blueberry ice cream is made in three steps. Prepare the blueberry sauce. Prepare the ice cream base. Churn the ice cream in an ice cream maker. While the process is fairly simple, this is not something you want to leave for the last minute, as the ice cream will need a few hours to freeze up before you eat it.
Preparing Blueberry Sauce
Once of the biggest differences between this blueberry ice cream recipe and many of the others that you see floating around is how we use the blueberries. Instead of pureeing the berries and straining out the seeds and skins, we use the whole blueberry.
The skins hold a lot of flavor and nutrients and the chunky texture makes the ice cream that much more interesting. It also means less work for you.
The blueberries go into a wide, shallow pot along with the sugar, water, and (optional) cardamom. Cook the berries until they begin to burst open, mash them with a potato masher, then cook a little longer until the blueberries thicken into a sauce. Let it cool at least 15 minutes before combining with the ice cream base.
Preparing the Ice Cream Base
If you are a homemade ice cream aficionado you’ll probably notice that this homemade ice cream contains no eggs. Instead, it gets all of its rich creaminess from heavy cream and whole milk.
That means there is no custard to cook, no thermometer to watch for food safety, and no extended cooling time. You simply take the cream and the milk from a cold fridge and combine them together.
A word of caution: the fat in the dairy is necessary to get creamy results. Don’t swap the cream for half and half and don’t swap the whole milk for reduced fat. The milk fat is essential.
Combine your blueberry sauce with the ice cream base and chill it completely before moving on to churning. I chill mine overnight. If it separates, that’s completely normal, just stir back together before you process it.
Churning Homemade Ice Cream
Again, for best results the ice cream base should be chilled completely. From there, follow the manufacturer’s instructions on your ice cream maker. If you are looking for a recommendation, my ice cream maker is the attachment for my KitchenAid Mixer and it lives in my freezer all year long. I’ve linked to it below.
Tips for Making Homemade Ice Cream
As the ice cream churns air gets incorporated, this will make the ice cream increase in volume by about 50% while churning. To prevent messes, do not fill your ice cream maker more than 2/3 full. If you need to process half of it now and half of it later that’s fine. The unprocessed mixture should keep a couple days in the fridge. If it separates, just stir it back together.
All ice cream makers are different, so it’s important to follow the manufacturer’s instructions in order to get the best results.
Most ice cream makers will result in ice cream that is a soft serve consistency when done. It will need to be transferred to a separate container and frozen until solid. To speed this process up use a metal tin, like a bread loaf pan.
Homemade ice cream also makes great ice cream bars. Transfer it from the ice cream maker into popsicle molds and freeze until solid. If you want to get even more adventurous, dip your ice cream bars in homemade magic shell.
Recommended Kitchen Tools
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Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe
Made with fresh blueberries, whole milk, and cream, this homemade blueberry ice cream tastes like summer in a bowl. It’s time to dig out your ice cream churn, pick up some blueberries, and make blueberry ice cream.
Looking for more delicious blueberry recipes? Make sure to take a look at my homemade blueberry muffins and small batch blueberry jam or see all of my summertime recipes.
If you like this recipe, please give it a FIVE STAR rating and share it on your favorite social channel!
Blueberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 cups blueberries
- 1 1/2 cups white sugar
- 1 teaspoon cardamom (optional)
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 cups whole milk
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- In a wide shallow pan combine blueberries, sugar, cardamom (if using), and water. Heat over a medium flame, simmering until blueberries soften and begin to burst open, about 5 minutes. Mash blueberries with a potato masher. Continue to cook until mixture thickens to the consistency of a sauce, about 5 – 10 minutes. Allow to cool 15 minutes.
- In a large bowl, preferably with a pour spout, measure out cold milk and cream. Stir in cooled blueberry sauce. Refrigerate 1 hour or more to cool completely. It’s completely normal if the mixture separates while cooling.
- Process ice cream in an ice cream churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
- Transfer ice cream to a freezer safe container and freeze until solid. About 8 hours.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated and is for general information purposes only. For the most accurate information, calculate using your select brands and exact measurements.
Can I use all cream and no milk
Using all cream will give you a very rich and creamy ice cream, for some people this is great but for others the higher fat content can end up leaving a waxy film in your mouth. I am one that notices that waxy film and for that reason I do not recommend using all cream. If you do try it, I’d love to know your thoughts.
The recipe is good, it tastes great, but this WILL dye your ice cream machine blue/purple, permanently. If you’re ok with that (as I am), then enjoy!
Oh my goodness! I”m so sorry about your machine, but it sounds like it’s a color your can deal with. I dyed my mandoline an awful shade of pink when making my oven roasted root vegetables. While I hate the color, it was worth it for the dish and I can hide it in a cabinet. I”m glad you enjoyed the ice cream!
Renee
I love this recipe, but it takes far longer than you stayed here to cook down the blueberries, at least a half hour. This is not an ice cream to make if you’re in any kind of a hurry.
Agatha,
I’m sorry you struggled to get the blueberries to cook as quickly as you expected. I find that when I use a tall narrow saucepan instead of a wide flat saucepan it can definitely take longer than suggested. I hope the results were worth your trouble.
Renee
delicious
We are making this right now (currently churning!) – the only thing different was add a vanilla bean.
Jessica,
That sounds like a delicious addition!
Renee