This chamomile blackberry ice cream recipe has a floral chamomile-infused cream base with a sweet blackberry compote swirled throughout. It's a creamy herbal berry ice cream with notes of honey and vanilla
Place a metal loaf pan in the freezer and make sure your ice cream maker bowl is pre-frozen according to its instructions.
First prepare the blackberry swirl. Whisk the sugar and corn starch for the swirl in a small bowl to keep the corn starch from clumping.
Cook the blackberries, sugar, corn starch, and lemon juice in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until the blackberries have completely broken down and the sauce is thick and bubbly, about 10-12 minutes. Transfer to the bowl of a blender or food processor and let cool slightly before pureeing until smooth. Press the sauce through a fine mesh sieve to remove and discard seeds. Chill sauce until cold.
Meanwhile, prepare the chamomile ice cream. Whisk 3 tablespoons of the milk with the corn starch in a small bowl to make smooth slurry. Set aside. Place the cream cheese in a small bowl and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, combine the remaining 3 cups of milk milk, cream, sugar, honey, and vanilla paste/extract and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring constantly to avoid scorching the bottom. Let it boil for 2-3 minutes then remove from heat. Stir in the chamomile and cover to steep for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with ice cubes and water.
Strain the milk through a fine mesh sieve lined with a cheese cloth, pressing all the liquid through. Return the strained milk to the saucepan.Give the corn starch slurry one last whisk to make sure it's completely incorporated. Slowly whisk the corn starch slurry into the hot milk saucepan and return it to medium-high heat. Bring it back to boil and cook, stirring, until it lightly coats the back of a wooden spoon, about 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.
Slowly pour about ⅓ cup of the hot milk into the cream cheese bowl and mix with a fork until mostly smooth. Pour this cream cheese mixture back into the saucepan and whisk until completely smooth. Mix in vodka, if using.
Pour the mixture into a large 1-gallon Ziploc bag. Seal it and submerge the mixture in the ice bath until cold, about 30 minutes. Alternatively, place it in a bowl in the refrigerator until chilled, 2-4 hours.
Pour the ice cream base into the bowl of your pre-frozen ice cream maker. Follow the directions on your ice cream maker to churn the base into ice cream, until it is the consistency of soft-serve, about 15-20 minutes.
Spread ¼ of the ice cream mixture into a loaf pan. Dollop ¼ of the blackberry sauce in 5-7 places on top of the ice cream. Use the back of a spoon or a chopstick to gently swirl the blackberries into the ice cream. Repeat 3 times until you've used up all of the ice cream and blackberry sauce. Cover the ice cream and freeze until firm, at least 4 hours, but preferably overnight.
Notes
*You can't taste the vodka in the finished ice cream, but adding the vodka will create a slightly softer and creamier ice cream that makes it a little easier to scoop when frozen. Without, the ice cream is still just as delicious!
This nutritional information has been automatically calculated, and as such, may be incomplete or inaccurate. Please reference the specific ingredients you use for the most accurate nutritional information.