blueberry cream cheese ice cream // recipe

It's blueberry season and this year I'm feeling the homemade ice cream.

Okay so, confession: I could do without ice cream, it's never my dessert of choice. BUT after having Jeni's in Atlanta last week, I realized how delicious ice cream can be and so here we are.

First up was strawberry ice cream made with berries the kids picked at Washington Farms. Now with our blueberries ripe and a willing picker (Luca!), I combined a few recipes and came up with this. The verdict? This is Ice-Cream-Worth-Eating.

ingredients:

ice cream base:
1 cup granulated sugar
6 oz cream cheese
2 egg yolks
1.5 cups whole milk
1/2 cup half & half

blueberries:
1.5 cups blueberries
2 tbsp granulated sugar
1/4 cup water

cracker crumb:
 4 graham cracker rectangles
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 tbsp melted butter
1/4 tsp kosher salt

how-to:
1. mix 1 cup sugar, cream cheese and egg yolks on high speed in your mixer until smooth and creamy.
2. combine milk and half & half in a medium, heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. remove from heat.
3. gradually add half of hot milk mixture to cheese mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. return milk mixture to pan. cook over medium-low heat 5 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°, stirring constantly. place pan in an ice-filled bowl or refrigerate for a few hours until completely cooled, stirring occasionally.
4.  combine blueberries, 2 tbsp sugar, and 1/4 cup water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 10 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring frequently. strain blueberries through a sieve; discard the skins & seeds. cool the remaining syrup completely.
5. in a food processor, pulse together graham crackers, melted butter, salt and 2 tbsp sugar to a fine crumb. spread the mixture in the bottom of a pan and bake at 350 for 8-10 min. remove from the oven and cool completely.
6. pour milk mixture into your ice cream maker and freeze accordingly. (it takes my kitchenaid mixer about 20-25 min).
7. in a freezer-safe container, scrape a layer of ice cream on the bottom, pour half of your blueberry syrup on top, and then add a layer of graham cracker crumbs. repeat for another layer. freeze at least an hour.