Simple blackberry ice cream recipes

Looking for simple blackberry ice cream recipes? I’ve got two here that I think you’ll love. One is a no churn ice cream and the other is an even easier instant make ice cream.

Woodland walks became a regular fixture this spring and I found myself spotting blackberry bushes everywhere and got increasingly excited as they began to ripen. Getting more than a little obsessed, I found that I couldn’t go for a walk without a few punnets in the bag, just in case. Free food, how could I say no? Now, looking towards the end of this season I wanted to share a few things I have done with my hedgerow finds.

Little confession, I’ve never been the biggest fan of blackberries for one simple reason, all those seeds. I started cooking them down in a little sugar and passing them through a sieve, essentially to get the flavour minus the crunch. I used these simple sauces over pancakes and also added them to lemonade and prosecco which was fab. I’m also planning to use my frozen blackberries to make a spicy chutney to enjoy later in the year and maybe if my haul allows try out making blackberry jam for the first time too.

Two recipes I’ve been experimenting with turned out so beautifully I had to share:

Simple blackberry ice cream recipes

Blackberry and Cassis no churn ice cream

Smooth and light bursting with blackberries. The addition of cassis for me is perfect, intensifying the rich flavour and of course the colour with the Cointreau and lemon adding a subtle citrus flavour to complement the berries. An instant favourite.

Ingredients

500g blackberries

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1 ½ tsp vanilla extract

Pinch salt

Sugar to taste

300ml double cream

200g condensed milk

3 tbsp Crème de Cassis

2 tbsp Cointreau or Triple Sec

Method

1. To make the blackberry sauce, put rinsed blackberries, juice and zest of lemon, salt and sugar into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for about 10 minutes until the berries burst.
2. Add the Cassis and Cointreau to the mixture.
3. Strain the sauce into a bowl capturing the pips in a sieve. Keep pushing the pulp through the sieve to get all the juice and discard seeds when done. (Ignore this step if you want a more texture to your ice cream or half and half if you prefer). Leave to cool. (I did this the day before but a few hours in the fridge would be fine).
4. Using a food mixer or free-standing electric whisk, whisk the cream until it thickens to soft peaks. Then add the condensed milk and continue whisking until it gets firm but still soft – you can see indentations in the cream when you remove the whisk. Then slowly pour in the cooled blackberry and cassis mixture. Whisk for a further few minutes and then pour into an air tight container and chill in the freezer for at least 6 hours to set.

Observations and tips

I experimented with a few no churn ice creams before this and kept finding that the texture of the finished ice cream wasn’t quite right, with some ice crystals that had formed while freezing. I found that a tight fitting, air-tight container is so important to avoid this. I also added an extra layer of clingfilm directly onto the whisked mixture and then added the lid which worked well, although I’d have to try another batch without to really see what difference this makes.

Alcohol freezes at a much lower texture than water so adding this to your ice-cream will also help produce a much lighter, smoother end product. Although of course optional if you would prefer not to use.

Simple blackberry ice cream recipes

Instant blackberry ice cream

For times when even no churn ice cream seems like too much work, here is a 3-ingredient winner that is much healthier than its curvier cousin and will instantly satisfy those berry cravings. Serves 2.

Ingredients

2 regular sized frozen bananas

Approx 100g frozen blackberry puree

1 tbsp honey (to taste)

Method

Blitz the banana, blackberry puree and honey in the food processor until smooth.

Scoop into bowls.

Enjoy.

Observations and tips

The key to having ice cream which is thick enough to scoop is to keep all of the fruit incredibly cold and keep liquid to a minimum. (I previously tried this with the addition of orange juice and even a few tablespoons will change the consistency.) It will still taste great, just will look more like a frozen smoothie bowl than ice cream, but that’s no bad thing either.

Bananas freeze really well and its a great way to use any ripe or over ripe bananas – don’t peel, just pop them straight in the freezer as is, waiting to be used for all sorts of things.

Looking for other simple recipes? Have a go at my Peanut butter choc swirl ice cream – no churn magic or my Apple pie muffins