This blueberry cheesecake ice cream is another huge hit from Cooking Light (with one major, delicious, and completely un-light addition). Everyone who tries it loves it.
There’s a lot to love about blueberries in this recipe–they don’t completely freeze, so you get little bites of frozen blueberry, similar in texture to frozen grapes, and it’s delish. Also, the color is beautiful and blueberries just pack a lot of flavor punch and they hold their own very nicely in this recipe.
I actually think it’s a little misleading to call this “Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.” I think non-cheesecake fans will be scared away and die-hard cheesecake-in-my-ice-cream fans may be disappointed. Honestly, you can hardly taste the cream cheese and there are no cheesecake bits. The cream cheese does, however, add a little zing and a lot of richness.
I won’t lie, this recipe is quite time-consuming. But it’s SO worth it.
Ingredient Notes
- Fresh or Frozen Blueberries
- Powdered Sugar
- Granulated Sugar
- Cream Cheese –Full fat or light will work. Avoid fat-free.
- Egg Yolks
- Whole Milk – 2% would also be ok.
- Heavy Cream – Half and half will work as well.
- Optional: A Prepared Graham Cracker Crust
How to Make Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
- In a small saucepan, combine some blueberries, powdered sugar, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- In a large saucepan, combine milk and half and half (or cream and whole milk if you’re taking that route). Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
- While milk is heating, combine cream cheese, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl and mix well.
- After you have removed milk mixture from heat, very slowly pour half of the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while the beater is running. This is called tempering the eggs, meaning that you’re slowly acclimating them to heat so you can cook them without them curdling. Mix the egg mixture well and then add the tempered egg mixture back into the hot milk mixture. Over medium-low heat and stirring very often, cook to 160°F (use a candy thermometer; 160°F is considered safe for most animal products, eggs included). Remove from heat.
- Place pan in ice–I actually just put the pan in my sink and then dumped a whole bunch of ice all around it; hey, it’s one less dish for me to clean!
- Allow to cool to a touchable temperature and then add those gorgeous blueberries and all of the liquid with them. Combine completely and put in the fridge for several hours until well chilled. Because this ice cream is a little more labor intensive that most, I make it up to this step one or even 2 days ahead of time. That way when you’re ready to freeze it, it’s well chilled and will be ready faster!
- Freeze according to manufacturer’s instructions. After churning it will be like soft-serve. Place in an air-tight container in the freezer to let it set up for at least 3 hours. This ice cream is pretty soft and seems to have a lower melting temperature than most commercial ice creams. Even after an overnight in the freezer, it’s pretty easy to scoop up.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store finished ice cream in a freezer-safe airtight container in the freezer and eat at your leisure.
- If you’re adding graham cracker crust to your ice cream: While the ice cream maker is working its magic, you’ll go ahead and break up the graham cracker crust. Leave some bigger chunks–the ice cream maker will break them down and the texture in the frozen ice cream is awesome! When the ice cream is very thick, add the pieces of graham cracker crust and then stop the motor as soon as the crust pieces have been mixed in.
Frequently Asked Questions
I’m not the biggest blueberry fan. Can I use another fruit?
I’ve only mad this ice cream with blueberries. I had a friend try it with strawberries and she did not love the finished product. The blueberries truly do add something special here! Feel free to try other fruits if you’d like, just know they haven’t been tested with this recipe.
Can I make this ahead of time?
This recipe is fairly labor intensive as far as ice cream recipes go. Feel free to complete the steps through freezing up to two days ahead of time. You could also make the ice cream all the way through and freeze for several days before serving. It gets better as it sits!
Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
This cream cheese custard ice cream is dotted with sweet blueberries to create an incredibly smooth, rich frozen treat.
Servings servings
Ingredients
- 3 cups blueberries fresh or frozen
- ¼ cup powdered sugar
- ¼ cup water
- 2 cups sugar
- 6 ounces cream cheese full fat or light, avoid fat-free
- 4 egg yolks
- 3 cups whole milk 2% is ok
- 1 cup heavy cream half and half or regular cream will work as well
- 1 prepared graham cracker crust optional
Instructions
- In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, powdered sugar, and water. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes and then remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- In a large saucepan, combine milk and cream. Bring to a boil and then remove from heat.
- While milk is heating, combine cream cheese, egg yolks, and sugar in a bowl and mix well.
- After you have removed milk mixture from heat, very slowly pour half of the milk mixture into the egg yolk mixture while the beater is running. This is called tempering the eggs, meaning that you’re slowly acclimating them to heat so you can cook them without them curdling. Mix the egg mixture well and then add the tempered egg mixture back into the hot milk mixture. Over medium-low heat and stirring very often, cook to 160°F (use a candy thermometer; 160°F is considered safe for most animal products, eggs included). Remove from heat.
- Place pan in a larger bowl or container of ice (I actually just put the pan in my sink and then dump a whole bunch of ice all around it). Allow to cool to a touchable temperature and then add those gorgeous blueberries and all of the liquid with them. Combine completely and put in the fridge for several hours until well chilled.
- Freeze according to ice cream machine manufacturer’s instructions. After churning it will be like soft-serve. Place in an air-tight container in the freezer to let it set up.
- If you’re adding the graham cracker crust: While the ice cream maker is working its magic, go ahead and break up the graham cracker crust. Leave some bigger chunks–the ice cream maker will break them down and the texture in the frozen ice cream is awesome! When the ice cream is very thick, add the pieces of graham cracker crust and then stop the motor as soon as the crust pieces have been mixed in.
- Transfer to a freezer-safe container (I just use a plastic food storage container) and freeze for at least three hours.
Notes
- Because this ice cream is a little more labor intensive that most, I make it up to step 5, 1-2 days ahead of time. That way when you’re ready to freeze it, it’s well chilled and will be ready faster!
- The REAL beauty is that for about a week, the longer this sits in your freezer, the better it tastes. So you can make this well in advance if you’re having a party.
- Another reason why you want to freeze this for as long as possible is because this is pretty soft and seems to have a lower melting temperature than most commercial ice creams. Even after an overnight in the freezer, it’s pretty easy to scoop up.
- Nutrition facts are approximate and were calculated using full fat cream cheese, heavy cream, and whole milk.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5cup, Calories: 249kcal, Carbohydrates: 34g, Protein: 3g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 7g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 3g, Cholesterol: 82mg, Sodium: 58mg, Potassium: 124mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 33g, Vitamin A: 515IU, Vitamin C: 3mg, Calcium: 84mg, Iron: 0.2mg
Calories: 249kcal
Cost: $15
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Questions & Reviews
This stuff is SOOOOOOOO good! It has got to be my favorite ice cream. It always comes out so smooth and creamy. Everyone I feed it to gets happier! Thanks a ton and a half for the great recipes and particularly for this beyond fantabulous one!
Just made this tonight. It's chillin' in the fridge. I taste-tested the mix before freezing and it's good. Mine smelled kind of egg-y, but I think it's just because I'm not used to putting eggs in ice cream. Also, I boiled the milk over (duh) so I had to add more to make up for what was spilled ALL OVER my stovetop, and I don't think I added enough. Can't wait to freeze this and eat it tomorrow. 🙂 You know what else would be good? Little chunks of actual frozen cheesecake in the ice cream. Mmmmm…
Amy Jo- when you say it stayed runny, do you mean soft, or actually runny? Homemade ice cream is naturally very soft, so if you want it to be the consistency of store-bought you need to freeze it after to let it harden. You'll also have best results if you chill your ice cream mixture for several hours (or overnight) before putting it into your ice cream maker. If you're doing all of that, I don't know what to tell you- it should work great!
I just got an ice cream maker and I have tried to make two different recipes. On both of them the ice cream just stayed runny. I put the canister in the freezer for 24 hours and my ingredients were cold. I don't know what is going wrong. Do you have any suggestions?
I have three ice cream makers, and they are all 4 quart capacity. I can't imagine going to all the work for just 1 1/2 quarts. I will definitely double this when I make it. Also, I'd suggest stirring in the graham cracker crust pieces when you transfer the ice cream from your freezer can to your storage container. Learned that the hard way the first time I made cookies & cream ice cream and ended up with gray ice cream with no cookie chunks in it.
Thanks Sara! I am pregnant and craving ice cream of all flavors so I totally know I'm off season but I am whipping up batches of ice cream in my new kitchenaid attachment. I look forward to learning how to make the cones.
chu33la- we don't have one yet! I ran out of time last summer to post it so it will have to wait until next summer (because that's when I make waffle cones, lol)!
Where is the tutorial on how to make homemade waffle cones?
This is very good. One time I had to have everything sit mixed for a while before getting in the ice cream maker (or maybe I cooked the blueberries longer)…The ice cream was sooo purple, I mean purple!
I just made this and it was to die for! Some of the the best ice cream I have ever made. It takes a little bit of extra time, but I think it is sooo worth it! A new family favorite for sure.