Wild Blackberry Goat Milk Ice Cream

13744226_1759183974358086_536575451_n.jpg

My sister re-gifted me her Kitchenaid mixer ice-cream maker attachment for my wedding a few years ago. She was embarrassed to give it to me, but I was tha-rilled. Like, over-the-moon thrilled. I've always wanted one and I'm way too cheap to just go buy one and my 5-year hinting for special occasion gifts plan was turning into the long long game. This blackberry ice cream is the first flavour I made in my new-to-me machine and it's an absolute treat. This is essentially Saveur's recipe with a few tweaks. 

ingredients

1 pint of foraged blackberries. I had a mix of invasive (yet delicious) Himalayan and local native berries
1 1⁄2 cups whole goat milk
2 eggs
2 egg yolks
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
1 1⁄4 cups heavy cream (if you can find goat cream, good on you. I never can, so I use organic cow cream with no thickeners added to avoid slimy ice cream)
Juice of 1⁄2 lemon

 

method

In the top of a double boiler, bring the goat milk to a gentle simmer over medium heat. 

Meanwhile, time to make your custard base. Whisk together eggs, egg yolks, and 3⁄4 cup of the sugar in a mixing bowl. Lightly whisk 1⁄4 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture, then whisk egg mixture into remaining milk in top of double boiler. Cook, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until mixture is thick enough to coat back of a spoon, about 15 minutes.

Transfer mixture to a mixing bowl (one with a spout, if you're smart); stir in 1 1⁄4 cups heavy cream; refrigerate until cold. I like to do this overnight, because I basically start all projects at night. And then you can make ice cream when you wake up! Imagine, a life with purpose. 

Combine blackberries, remaining sugar, and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. If you like fresh mint, you can always finely chop a bit in here. It's nice with blackberry. Cover and allow the berries to macerate in the fridge for a couple of hours. Everything has to be cold before it can go in your ice cream maker. 

Once the berries have macerated and gotten very cold, you can push the berry pulp through a sieve to remove the seeds. I never do this. Blackberry seeds are nice and make the ice cream prettier, in my opinion. Rrrrrrustic, if you will. I do, however puree them. You don't have to. Chunky blackberries are also nice. 

Stir the berry pulp into the custard base and pour (hence the spout suggestion above) into an ice cream maker. Process according to manufacturer's directions.

Saveur permits you to add 1 cup of halved fresh blackberries just before the ice cream is set. I don't do this, but I also give my express permission for this addition. 

Ice cream makers don't produce a hard ice cream. You'll get more of a soft-serve texture. Transfer to a sealable bowl and freeze until firm.