Vanilla Chocolate Chip with Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream

I bought again a large container of blueberries at Costco, and after making my blueberry ice cream recipe few days ago, I still had some berries left to make another flavor. I decided to be innovative and try something new. It went something like this:

Makes 1 quart.

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Total Time: 60 minutes

Ingredients:

Blueberry Swirl
•1 cup of blueberries
•1/2 cup of sugar
•1 tsp lemon juice
•1/8 tsp. vanilla extract
•1/8 tsp. ground coriander
•little pinch of salt

Basic vanilla ice cream
•3/4 cup of whole milk 
•1/2 cup of sugar
•2 cups of heavy (whipping) cream

•2 oz (~80 grams) of mini chocolate chips

Preparation:

Blueberry Swirl

1. Dissolve 1/2 cup of sugar in 1/4-1/2 cup of water in a medium sauce pan over low heat. You want enough water to keep it liquidy after it cools, but not too watery to have ice crystals after it freezes.

2. When sugar is dissolved, add berries, lemon juice, vanilla extract, coriander, and salt.

3. Bring to boil then cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to burst (about 5 minutes).

4. Remove from heat and in blender puree until smooth. You may also want to strain the mash before cooling (it will harden after cooling)

5. Cool to room temperature, then chill well in the refrigerator.

Basic vanilla ice cream

6. Combine milk and sugar in a medium mixing bowl, and mix on very slow (1 or 2) speed, until sugar is dissolved.

7. Add heavy cream and stir in with a spoon.

8. Pour into ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer directions.

9. 5 minutes before the end of freezing time in the ice cream maker (after about 20 min of mixing) slowly pour in the chocolate chips.

10. Transfer the ice cream into a plastic freezer container. With a knife handle make vertical holes and fill them with the blueberry swirl. Poor any remaining swirl on top of the ice cream.

Blueberry Ice Cream

I'm not a huge ice cream fan. I would not order it for a desert or buy for myself in a store. But now that I have the ice cream maker I like to try make, and eat, different ice creams that I know exactly what they are made of. My mom loves ice creams, and we always have to have some in the freezer when she is here. So this gives me a good practice for when she comes back this winter.

I am still learning the ins and outs of ice cream making, but I was pleased with this recipe. I combined several recipes I found on-line, and the one I came up bellow is the simplest for me. I got two containers of fresh blueberries, so I'll be making some extra to freeze 'till winter, perhaps. I like tart flavors, and this one goes really well with chocolate. It uses coriander, which supposedly mixes well with blueberries. Enjoy!

Makes 1 quart.

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Ingredients:

•1/2 - 1 cup sugar (I found 1/2 cup to be too sour)
•2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
•1 Tbsp. lemon juice
•1/4 tsp. vanilla extract
•1/4 tsp. ground coriander
•Pinch of salt
•1 cup of heavy (whipping) cream
•1 cup of Half and Half cream

Preparation:

1. Dissolve sugar in 1/4 cup water in a medium sauce pan over low heat.

2. When sugar is dissolved, add berries, lemon juice, vanilla extract, coriander, and salt.

3. Bring to boil then cook over low heat, stirring occasionally, until berries begin to burst (about 5 minutes).

4. Remove from heat and in blender puree until smooth. You may also want to strain the mash before cooling (it will harden after cooling)

5. Cool to room temperature, then chill in the refrigerator.

6. Thoroughly combine berries and cream. Pour into ice cream maker, and follow manufacturer directions.

Ice Cream Maker

I am not a big ice cream fan.
My mom is, big time, but I just don't like the very cold foods and drinks in my mouth.

But, Costco had this Cuisinart 1-1/2-Quart Ice Cream Maker on sale for $25, and I just couldn't pass on it. Plus, I love the color!

I didn't know this about ice cream makers, but you have to freeze the bowl before it could be used. It was a torture to have to wait 24 hours when I wanted to start making ice cream NOW! It came with few recipes, and since I already had ingredients for the basic chocolate ice cream, that was the first batch I made.

It's pretty simple to use. This basic mix took about 10 minutes to prepare, then I left overnight to chill. In the morning I just placed the frozen bowl onto the base, turned it on, poured the mix into it, and in 20 min the ice cream was ready! I transferred it into a plastic container and stored again in the freezer.

Zoran and Emilia were over for dinner last night, and we had that ice cream for desert. YUMMY! Creamy, smooth, and delicious. Ciro would have some too, but since he can't have chocolate, he got the store-bought strawberry ice cream :)

If you have some great ice cream recipes - please send them my way!