Ice cream is my favorite food. I don’t *just* mean my favorite dessert. I mean actually my favorite food, the last-thing-I-wanna-eat-before-I-die kinda thing.
When I was a kid, I ate a bowl of ice cream every night. And I would continue to do this if my metabolism didn’t start to catch up with me around my early twenties.
So, since it’s more of a treat these days - I am really THIRSTY for ice cream. The sound of the Mr. Softee jingle makes me all tingly inside. I have inappropriate fantasies about Ben AND Jerry. I’ll lick the sprinkles off a Kohr’s custard so fast your head will spin.
Is it hot in here? 🥵
Last summer, I finally invested in my very own ice cream machine, and let me tell you - it has been a BLAST. I’m throwing all kinds of yummy shit in there. I’m living out all of my childhood dreams of owning an ice cream shop (but I’m the only customer).
I’ve been hesitant to share any ice cream recipes with you so far….because…. how many people really have ice cream machines out there? But then I figured, if you do have one, then you must be an ice cream freak like me (we’re a special breed) and it is my duty to share some of this magic I’m making with you.
If you don’t have an ice cream machine, but f*cking love ice cream and are thinking of getting one - here is your official invitation to go ahead and get the damn thing! After much research, this is the one I bought and I’m pleased to say that I love it.
Which brings me to this ice cream flavor I just developed on a whim that was so good, I had to make it this week’s Sobremesa immediately.
Enter - Blueberry Pie Ice Cream.
The story behind this ice cream is that my friend gifted me 2 pints of locally farmed blueberries. I was thinking what to do with this treat - these special blueberries deserved something better than being thrown in my morning smoothie. I considered making a pie, and any of you have been following for awhile, you know that pies are my “thing” and I do make them a lot. But I dunno, that seemed boring.
This “dilemma”””” was top of mind while I was chatting with my recipe consultant (aka my live-in boyfriend who has to listen to me talk about food a lot) while smoking a joint and getting a cone at Ample Hills. He said, “what if you made blueberry pie ICE CREAM.” And so it was.
The next day, I fired up the ice cream machine.
This recipe freaking rocks because:
I use my mom’s insane vanilla bean ice cream base recipe.
I infused blueberries and cream cheese in the base so you get a really rich flavor and gorgeous vibrant purple color.
I crumble the best crispy, salty, buttery, pie dough into the ice cream at the last minute so you’re getting those nice big bites of heaven.
When I say it tastes like blueberry pie, I’m not kidding.
And I’m really not kidding when I say that I think it’s BETTER than blueberry pie. It’s kinda like when you have blueberry pie with vanilla ice cream on a hot day and it all kinda melts and then you say f*ck it and kinda mash it together towards the end and then you lick the plate (okay just me?)
Anyway, now you don’t have to lick your plate. Here’s the recipe!
Blueberry Pie Ice Cream
makes 2 pints
Ingredients - blueberry ice cream base
2 cups whole milk
2 tablespoons corn starch
1.5 oz cream cheese
2 pints blueberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tablespoons honey
1/2 whole vanilla bean (optional, but really adds the depth if you can find this!)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ingredients - pie dough
¾ cup flour
½ stick butter
Sprinkle of kosher salt
Splash of ice cold water
Let’s do it!
In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup whole milk and 2 tablespoons corn starch and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl add the 1.5 oz cream cheese and set aside.
Add the blueberries to a blender or food processor until puréed.
Transfer the blueberry mixture to a small saucepan and add ¼ cup sugar.
Bring to low boil and stir frequently until thickened and reduced to about half the size. Set aside.
In a medium saucepan add: 1-3/4 cups whole milk, 1-1/4 cups heavy cream, ½ cup sugar, 1 1/2 tablespoons honey, 1/2 vanilla bean, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.
Bring to boil, whisking constantly over medium-high heat.
After it reaching boiling, cook for another 4 minutes, whisking constantly.
Stir in the cornstarch mix.
Return to boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.
Pour a small amount of this milk mixture over the cream cheese in the large bowl and whisk until smooth.
Add the remaining milk mixture – starting with a cup at a time to make sure the cream cheese mixture incorporates smoothly.
Add 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract.
Whisk in the blueberry mix.
Remove the whole vanilla bean (if you used) and put to the side.
Pass the ice cream base through a mesh strainer into another bowl.
If you used the vanilla bean, slice it open in half long ways and scrape the “black gold” (as my mom would say) out of the pods and whisk this into the cream mixture.
Put a layer of plastic wrap over this mix (to prevent gooey film from forming) and place it in the fridge. The base should be cold before putting in the ice cream maker - which should take at least an hour.
Meanwhile, make your pie dough! Set your oven to 375F and see this Sobremesa for a tutorial on pie-dough, and stop before the recipe instructs you to place the dough into a pie dish.
Take the rolled out down, cut into long triangles and then roll them up (ever make Pillsbury Crescent rolls? Kinda like that). Bake for about 30-40 mins until the roll-ups are golden. Let cool completely and then crush into smaller bits.
When the ice cream mix is cool, add to the ice cream maker and sit tight while the magic is being made ; )
When it’s finished, transfer the ice cream to a bowl and quickly / gently mix in the pie dough bits before it melts.
Transfer to ice cream containers (tupperware will work great here too!) and let freeze fully.
Enjoy ☀️
Love ya mucho,
Tessa