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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