With their rich purple color and a unique flavor different from any other raspberry, black raspberries or black caps (Rubus occidentalis) are one of my favorite wild fruits and have a cult following in the Midwest. Using them in a fresh black raspberry ice cream is a great way to enjoy the fruit, for a number of reasons. Read on and I'll explain how I make it.
Black raspberry ice cream tastes like raspberry ice cream, but less tart and with a rich, dark berry flavor anyone who knows the fruit will love. As the custard base is strained it's also one of the best ways to cook the fruit for people that like the flavor of black raspberries but don't care for the seeds.
Pureeing and straining also works with fruit damaged by invasive fruit fly larvae (spotted wing drosophila) that have been plaguing them and many other fruits this year. You can make the recipe with fresh or frozen raspberries, or mix and match your favorite fruits for a blend.
How to Make Black Raspberry Ice Cream
The first step in making black raspberry ice cream is cooking the custard base. Bring some maple syrup to a simmer in a small pot and add the raspberries, mashing them up with a ladle, whisk, or another utensil like the wooden mallet shown in the images below. You can also use sugar instead of maple and skip the preliminary simmering I show here.
Once the fruit is mashed up it's brough back to a simmer and the cream and eggs are added. Immediately after the dairy is added to the pot I puree the mixture with a hand blender / immersion blender. An immersion blender is ideal here since a highspeed blender or Vitamix could grind up the seeds which need to be strained out.
After the mixture's pureed it's cooked until it's steaming to sterilize the eggs and thicken the custard mixture. It's very important to thoroughly cook the eggs to prevent the possibility of salmonella, as well as to ensure the ice cream sets properly. If you use a thermometer that means bringing the temperature to about 168F-170F.
Once the custard is cooked it's strained through a fine strainer (I love my chinois for things like this). After straining I add a few scrapes of Meyer lemon zest and a splash of my wild vanilla extract, which you can skip if you don't have any.
From here the custard is refrigerated overnight to ensure the best texture, then it's processed in an ice cream maker. When it doubles in size (roughly 45 minutes in my machine) it's done.
If you love making ice cream, I recommend a model with an internal compressor since you don't have to chill the bowl beforehand. That said, compressor models are more expensive, heavier, and take up more space than smaller, cheaper ones.
Freeze the ice cream until it's set, then scoop into cups or bowls that've been chilled in the freezer, drizzle with a thread of maple syrup, garnish with a few perfect black raspberries and serve. A sprig of fresh mint always looks nice too.
Tips and Variations
- Make black raspberry chocolate chip ice cream by folding in 2 oz small dark chocolate chips or chocolate shavings after the ice cream's been processed.
- Stir the ice cream base with a wooden spoon-never a whisk which can cause it to break and become grainy.
- Other juicy berries and fruits can be used interchangeably here. Mulberry ice cream would be excellent and you could leave some or all of the fruit in as the seeds are so small.
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Homemade Black Raspberry Ice Cream
Equipment
- Ice cream maker (preferably a compressor model)
- 2 quart sauce pot
- Fine Strainer
- hand blender
Ingredients
- 12 oz fresh black raspberries
- ¾ cup maple syrup or ½ -¾ cup sugar *see note
- 2 cups heavy whipping cream
- 1 cup half and half or milk
- 5 large egg yolks
- Pinch of kosher salt
- A few scrapes of Meyer lemon zest optional
- 2 teaspoons wild vanilla extract optional
Instructions
- Whisk the half and half, cream and egg yolks and reserve.
- If you're using regular sugar instead of maple syrup, skip to step 4.
- Heat the maple syrup in a 2 quart capacity sauce pot and bring to a simmer. Add the black raspberries, turn the heat to medium and cook, mashing the fruit up with the back of a spoon until the mixture comes back to a simmer.
- Simmer the fruit and maple syrup for 3-4 minutes on medium heat to evaporate some water.
- Add the cream-egg mixture, stir, then puree the mixture with an immersion blender and cook until the mixture is visibly steaming and slightly thickened (roughly 168-170 F).
- Strain the mixture through a fine strainer or chinois.
- Add the lemon zest and wild vanilla extract, cool, then refrigerate in a container with a lid overnight for the best texture.
- Spin the ice cream according to the manufacturers directions of the ice cream machine.
- Serve the ice cream drizzled with a thread of maple syrup, extra fresh black cap raspberries and a sprig of mint if you have some.
Marie
Amazingly rich flavor!
LaRae
This was sooo good!