Happy National Ice Cream Day!! (A few days late, but better late than never, amiright?) We LOVE ice cream. However, we also like to live healthy. So, we are at a conflict. Fortunately for us, we believe in balance. We spoil ourselves often because well…balance.
A while back, Kara made something that called for buttermilk. Well, what in the world do you do with the rest of that half gallon of buttermilk after you use half a cup in said recipe? Since I’m not my grandfather, I can’t just pour a glass and gulp it down (no, seriously he did that). Kara did the only logical thing and decided to make ice cream with it. We had discovered a great buttermilk ice cream base recipe. It was a winning combination. Some of the best dang ice cream ever. We had it with chocolate sheeth cake our buddy Erin made one evening. So good. But I digress.
But as any foodie knows, there’s always the “what if”. What if we added fresh blueberries and speculoos cookies to that delicious buttermilk base? Ya know, since we had a big ol package of blueberries sitting in the fridge during berry season. Oh, “what if” indeed. It was quite magical – that combination. Some of the best ice cream we’ve ever made in fact. Just wish there had been more – it was gone all to quick. 
And oh look – here’s how you can make it.
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh blueberries
- 1/4 cup sugar
- Pinch of salt
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 cup whipping cream
- 6 egg yolks
- 1/2 c sugar
- 1 cup cold buttermilk
- 1 tsp vanilla
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 4-5 Spice Cookies - Crushed into Chunks (we used Trader Joe's Speculoos brand)
Instructions
Combine blueberries, sugar, and salt in a heavy saucepan.
Simmer over medium heat until berries start to break down (about 20 minutes). You want some berries left whole for texture.
Add cornstarch and stir until thickened (shouldn't take long).
Remove from heat, stir in lemon juice.
Allow to cool completely - in fact this can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge.
Bring whipping cream to simmer in heavy medium saucepan.
Whisk egg yolks and sugar in medium bowl to blend.
Gradually whisk hot cream into egg yolk mixture.
Return mixture to saucepan and stir over medium heat until custard thickens slightly, about 6 minutes (do not boil).
Meanwhile, pour buttermilk into a bowl and put into the freezer to get really cold.
Strain custard into bowl with the buttermilk, vanilla, and lemon juice.
Refrigerate custard until cold, about 2 hours.
Freeze according to ice cream maker's instructions.
When the ice cream is ALMOST done, add the blueberry swirl and about 4-5 crushed up speculoos cookies. If you overmix, then you lose the "swirl" effect.
https://www.kandradventures.com/buttermilk-blueberry-swirl-ice-cream/
BRB, gotta eat this before it melts.
That buttermilk ice cream was totally amazing when it was plain – I can only imagine that the addition of blueberries and speculoos cookies shot this stuff into the stratosphere! I’m now convinced that all truly amazing ice creams need to have that lil’ bit of tang to it… like that cream cheese version you made way back when!