We all scream for roasted blackberry chocolate chip ice cream! Okay, that’s a mouthful, but you can bet that all this wordy work will be rewarded with a tasty mouthful of amazingly delicious ice cream. Ice cream has always been a go to dessert for my family.  Finished with dinner – why not end your day with a bowl of mint chocolate chip? Or chocolate? Or vanilla? Or whatever else you have in your freezer? Any which way you scoop it – ice cream is a dreamy dessert that few people pass on.

A number of years ago my husband gave me one of my favorite gifts – an ice cream attachment for my Kitchenaid. 

Imagine this in your freezer just waiting for you to think up an amazing flavor to churn at home.  I must admit that I haven’t come up with anything too crazy – mostly just working on some basics – but with the internet at the ready I’m sure you could find a recipe for just about any kind of ice cream you can dream up. Some of my favorites are mint chip using actual mint leaves, salted caramel, strawberry, and my absolute favorite: vanilla. But those can all come around a different day – today we focus on this fairly glamorous recipe. 

After visiting some friends a few years ago we had the opportunity to share some blackberry chocolate chip ice cream together.  And for some cruel reason you can’t get blackberry chocolate chip ice cream in California stores, I know – I looked!! Enter ice cream attachment – time to get churning!  That was a while back, and I had an amazing recipe, but can’t find it.  Awesome.  After some research I found this recipe, and adapted it for my own uses.  So here’s my take:

Roasted Blackberry Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

for the roasted blackberry sauce:
6 c blackberries (I started with mine straight from the freezer)
2/3 c sugar
2 Tbsp vanilla

for the ice cream base:
1 1/2 c heavy cream
1 1/2 c half and half
1 tsp vanilla
4 egg yolks
2/3 c sugar

1-2 c mini chocolate chips

First you’ll want to make the roasted blackberry sauce, and it couldn’t be easier.  Take you blackberries and place them in a 9×13 pan.  Stir with vanilla and sugar.  If you’re using frozen berries let them sit while to thaw you preheat the oven to 250°F.  Once your oven is ready roast the blackberries for 3 hours, stirring every hour. 

After your long and patient waiting you can take your berries out of the oven and place them into a strainer over a bowl.  I did this in small batches using the back of a spoon to press the juice out and any pulp that would easily make its way through the mesh strainer.  You should end up with about 1 1/2 cups of roasted blackberry sauce.  Set aside and let cool while you make the ice cream base.

This is a fairly basic ice cream base, and if you have a preferred recipe that you’re more comfortable with I’d say go for it.  I adapted this one, and it worked very well.

Heat the heavy cream, half and half, and vanilla in a medium pan, but don’t let it boil.  While the cream mixture is getting hot whisk together the egg yolks and sugar.  They should get much lighter in color and fluffier in volume. Once the cream has gotten nice and hot slowly stream it into the eggs while still whisking.  You don’t want to cook the eggs so keep whisking until everything is incorporated.  You might need a third hand to help pour, but after a few times you’ll get the hang of it.  And who doesn’t want to practice making more ice cream?

After everything is mixed together return your base to the pan over low-medium heat.  Keep stirring with a wooden spoon while your custard cooks. Again, you don’t want to boil this mixture – just cook it until it coats the back of the spoon your stirring with. Custard doesn’t take too long so keep an eye on it.

Once the custard is ready I always like to cool things down with and ice bath.  In order to make the smoothest ice cream possible you want everything to be as cold as possible.  Pour your custard into a bowl and add the roasted blackberry sauce.  Stir it all up and let it cool down.  When it’s cooled put everything into the fridge for at least 4 hours.  Remember – the colder the better. 

For churning just follow the instructions on your ice cream maker. My bowl is pretty much a set it and forget it deal – once the ice cream is in the attachment let it stir itself on the lowest setting into dreamy deliciousness. 

This should take about 15-20 minutes.  At about 15 minutes in I add in the chocolate chips.  Your ice cream will still be very soft, and this is easier than stirring it by hand when you’re ice cream is fully churned.  Once everything is done you should find that the ice cream has about doubled in size.

Put all your loveliness into a freezer safe container and cover with wax paper before sealing with the container’s lid.  Sure – you could dig it right now, but the ice cream will still be very soft. 

Oh, okay – just one bite.  But then it’s right into the freezer for a night of chilling out.  That’s when you get this beauty of a dish :) 

With an ice cream maker your possibilities are deliciously endless – so enjoy – and have your friends and family screaming for more of your fabulous ice cream!