I may be committing some sort of culinary faux pas here by posting an ice cream recipe before Memorial Day, but the blackberries have been so sweet and juicy this year, that I thought you might want to get a little jump start on summer. Besides being such a gorgeous color, this ice cream is absolutely delicious and will win over even those who are firmly in the fruit-does-not-belong-in-ice-cream camp!

If you don't own an ice cream maker and you want to make frozen treats that can't be matched by any supermarket product, then you owe it to yourself to go out and get one. Yes, it's a luxury but you and your loved ones will be wowed by what you can churn out in your kitchen (pun intended!) The model I have is a Delonghi and I think it's discontinued now, but there are lots of good ones on the market and they range in price from about $50 to several hundred, so you can definitely find one that's right for you. If you don't want to have to remember to freeze the bowl before churning, then a self-freezing machine is probably the way to go. Once you make up a batch or two, you'll be surprised at how easy it is to make homemade ice cream and you'll probably never want to buy store bought again! Another bonus is that you can control what goes in so you can really keep it natural and pure.

What I love about this version is that you not only get that great blackberry flavor through and through, but you also have little specks of blackberry sprinkled throughout. It's really special! Culinary faux pas or no, now's the time to enjoy a scoop or two. Can you tell I'm just the slightest bit eager for the summer to start?!!

Fresh Blackberry Ice Cream

Makes about 1 quart

It's not absolutely necessary but it helps to have a candy thermometer for this and you will definitely need an ice cream maker.

Prep Time: 25 minutes, plus chilling time and churning time

Ingredients

For the blackberry puree

• 12 ounces fresh blackberries (buy organic if you can)

• 1/4-1/2 cup sugar, depending on how sweet the blackberries are

For the ice cream

• 5 large egg yolks

• 1/2 cup sugar, divided

• 1 1/2 cups heavy cream

• 1 cup 1% milk

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

The Recipe

1.  To make the puree:  Place the berries and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 10 minutes, stirring every now and then, until the berries have cooked down and some of the juice they've released has reduced a bit. Place half of the mixture in a bowl and set aside. Place the other half in a sieve set over the bowl and press down on the berry mixture to get as much juice released as possible. Discard the solids. Stir the mixture together, cover it and chill until ready to use.

2.  To make the ice cream:  Whisk together lightly,  the yolks and 1/4 cup of the sugar in a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, milk, salt and remaining sugar. Heat over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Very slowly, a bit at a time, whisk the hot mixture into the egg mixture. Scrape the entire mixture back into the saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly with a heatproof spoon, until the mixture reaches about 175 on a candy thermometer and/or coats the back of the spoon. Strain the mixture through a sieve into a large container, cover it and let it chill for at least 8 hours or overnight.

3.  Right before you're ready to make the ice cream, whisk the blackberry puree into the custard. Follow the manufacturer's directions to churn the ice cream and freeze.

Enjoy!

Note:  Recipe adapted from Annie Eats--I toyed around with the proportion of cream to milk to make it a bit lighter.