The Ice Cream That You'll Want to Eat for Breakfast
As you may know by now, I love a good blueberry muffin (if you haven’t tried these ones yet, run – don’t walk – to make them!). So what better than to turn my love of these muffins into an ice cream, especially when it’s National Ice Cream Month (best month theme ever?). Introducing: Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream, the alternative for when you don’t feel like turning the oven on.
Cinnamon enhances blueberry flavor, so the Cinnamon Streusel not only complements the blueberries, but it also adds a texture that pairs well with the smooth ice cream (and gives it that muffin feeling). When recipe testing, I tried mashing blueberry muffins into the ice cream. While this does add a ton more texture, when frozen, the muffin itself becomes hard and chewy. The crumbled streusel won’t slow you down when you’re trying to fill up on ice cream.
This ice cream is a fun one to make because once you’ve strained the juices from the heated blueberries, you can use the remains on top of toast or biscuits. Love when there’s very little food waste in a recipe.
Good vanilla extract is important for most desserts, and ice cream is no exception. Thanks to Nielsen-Massey Vanillas for sending over vanilla extract to try – I’ve been using their extract for years, but have only tried the Madagascar Bourbon flavor (I’m a creature of habit!). So when they sent over the Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract to try with an ice cream, I knew it would be a great opportunity to try a new flavor profile, and that it would also pair deliciously with this Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream.
The Tahitian Pure Vanilla Extract is smooth and has the most flavorful fresh scent, and the fruity and floral notes naturally enhance the fresh blueberries used to make this ice cream. Vanilla extract isn’t supposed to overwhelm a dessert, but instead enhance the other flavors – this extract does just that, and I’m excited to try it in other ice creams (and baked goods).
Blueberry Muffin Ice Cream
Serves: 5-6 | Cooking Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients
2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1 cup light brown sugar, divided
1 tablespoon lime juice
1 ½ cups half and half
1 ½ cups whole milk
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 egg yolks
Method
Combine 1/4 cup light brown sugar, blueberries, and lime juice in a small saucepan set over medium heat. Bring to a boil and mash berries. Strain the berries through a fine mesh strainer, collecting just the juice. Set aside.
Combine the half and half, whole milk, remaining sugar, salt, and vanilla extract in a saucepan and simmer over low heat, stirring until the sugar has dissolved.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the egg yolks.
Very slowly pour the milk mixture into the egg yolks, a small amount at a time, whisking the egg yolk mixture quickly so that they don’t heat too much to the point where they cook and become scrambled. Do this until the egg yolk mixture is warm to the touch and enough milk has been added.
Pour the egg yolk mixture back into the saucepan and mix together with the remaining milk mixture. Add the strained blueberry juice into the pan and mix together.
Simmer the mixture over low heat until the mixture is nappe (when you lift the spoon out of the mixture, run your finger across it. If there is a streak and the mixture isn’t dripping into it, you’re good to go).
Strain the mixture through a sieve into a bowl. Refrigerate overnight or for four-five hours if you need it day-of. If you want to use it immediately, cool the liquid down in an ice bath by filling up a bigger bowl with ice and water. Place the bowl with the mixture in the ice bath and whisk continuously until the mixture is cool to the touch.
Once the custard has completely cooled, churn it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.
While the ice cream is turning, make the muffin streusel (see in Notes below).
Once the mixture is churned to the point of thick ice cream, use a spatula to scoop the ice cream into a container. At this point the ice cream shouldn’t be solid, so use this opportunity to mix in the muffin streusel with a spatula for the muffin texture.
Put the ice cream in the freezer to harden.
Once the ice cream has hardened, scoop and enjoy!
Cinnamon Streusel:
Ingredients
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 tablespoons butter, cold and cubed
Method
Using your fingers or a food processor, combine the flour, ¼ cup light brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter.
Spread the mixture onto a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes.
Using a fork, stir the streusel up, then bake for another 20 minutes or until golden brown. Crumble the mixture up and let it cool.