Ice Cream of the Week: Blackberry Frozen Custard

This is the first French style ice cream in the ice cream of the week series. The key difference between this recipe and the previous Philadelphia style ice creams is the addition of egg yolks to make a custard.

This recipe was inspired by the Good Eats episode about gourmet ice creams. Alton Browns formula is very similar to the one I normally use except dramatically more egg yolks. I would generally only use 3 egg yolks in this much ice cream. I decided to try the 8 yolk approach and thought the texture was a bit greasy. I also didn’t strain the mixture before freezing, a step that I’ve added to the recipe to remove the crunchy seeds.

Blackberry Frozen Custard

  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 3 cups half and half
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 8 egg yolks
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 cup finely chopped up blackberries (and juice from chopping)

    Combine the dairy and bring to 175° over medium low heat. While heating the dairy whisk the egg yolks until they lighten in color then slowly add the sugar. Whisk eggs and sugar until a ribbon forms on the surface of the mixture and the color is light yellow. Add the dairy slowly (1 cup at a time, whisking constantly) to temper the egg yolks. When you’ve added about half of the dairy to the eggs combine both back in the sauce pan and return to low heat. Bring the mixture to 170° or until nape (thickened). Pour into an airtight container, add vanilla and blackberries. Chill overnight in the fridge. Strain the mixture to remove seeds. Freeze according to your ice cream freezer’s instructions.