Gluten Free

Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

Originally published 9 January 2022 · Modified 1 January 2024

There used to be a blueberry cheesecake ice cream which I used to enjoy as a child, and this ice cream brings back a lot of childhood memories.

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A tin of blueberry swirl ice cream before scooping, a waffle cone and a pink lily beside it

A waffle cone of blueberry swirl ice cream standing in a glass jar, from the side

I have been baking for years, and feel quite comfortable with cakes and other desserts. Ice cream is less familiar territory, however. I have made many no-churn versions before, but none come close to the silky bite of a custard ice cream.

I did a lot of googling and reading about different recipes and found many people make reference to David Lebovitz's recipes. I used his vanilla ice cream recipe, with some minor adaptations, to create the base for this recipe.

Three cones of blueberry swirl ice cream standing in glass jars

I had some blueberries lying about and decided I wanted to swirl them through the ice cream, for a fresh burst to a silky vanilla base. I was definitely not disappointed by my first attempt at ice cream making, but will tweak my skills as I go along.

As promised, I have tweaked my skills as I went along 😉: I have made a few more ice creams since this initial post, and have developed a nicer custard base to form the canvas for this blueberry swirl.

Close-up of a tin of scooped blueberry swirl ice cream with the scoop

The recipe

Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

adventureswithsugar.com/blueberry-swirl-ice-cream/

Method

Method: blueberry compote

Cook the blueberries: Place the blueberries, glucose syrup, caster sugar and lemon juice on medium heat, until the sugar has dissolved, the blueberries start to soften and the colour begins to run and all the ingredients come together.
Break them down: You want the blueberries to break down as much as possible, else they will freeze as hard clumps in the ice cream.
Cool and chill: Set aside to cool to room temperature whilst you get on with the rest of the ice cream, then refrigerate.

Method: ice cream

Infuse the milk: Heat the milk in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean pod in half and add the seeds as well as the vanilla bean pod into the milk and sugar. Turn off and let infuse for an hour.
Whisk the yolks and sugar: Place the egg yolks, vanilla extract and sugar in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Temper the eggs: Then rewarm the milk until hot, slowly pour about a quarter of this milk into the egg yolks and mix. Then add the egg yolks to the rest of the milk.
Cook the custard: Cook the milk and egg yolks on low heat until the custard thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon. This should take about 5 minutes.
Fold in the whipped cream: Whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold into the custard base. Add a few drops of blueberry essence, if using.
Chill overnight: Place this custard in the fridge to set overnight.
Churn: Place the custard in your ice cream maker and churn as per the maker's instructions.
Swirl and freeze: Once churned, swirl the blueberry compote through and freeze.

Comments (2)

Fernanda 5 January 2024

That ice-cream looks heavenly!!! Any way to make it without an ice-cream maker please? 🍦🤤
1. Suvar Baker 22 March 2024
  
  Hi Fernanda I somehow seemed to have missed this comment, I am so sorry :(. I have not made it without an ice cream machine, but you could try churning it by hand with some effort. Once you have made the custard base and let it chill in the fridge, you can begin to freeze it, them remove from the freezer every hour and mix it about a bit and repeat this four or five times.