Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream - A Calculated Whisk

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind. Last weekend I went to an amazing food photography and styling workshop in Plymouth, MA (more on that here), yesterday I took the comprehensive exams for my master’s program, and somewhere in there I turned 30.

I actually love birthdays (especially mine), and so far I am feeling good about being 30. Ben’s birthday is just a week and a half before mine, so we celebrated with a joint make-your-own ice cream sandwich party. It’s hard to imagine anything more fun than smooshing ice cream between cookies with your closest friends!

This ice cream was not present at the party because it hadn’t occurred to me yet–I was actually inspired to make this because of all the leftover buttermilk I had after making Ben’s birthday cake. (He always wants a gluten cake for his big day, and who am I to deny a birthday boy? It’s the only glutinous baking I do all year. I made him this chocolate cake and it was fabulous. The only change I made was using avocado oil instead of canola. The avocado oil is tasteless and worked great in the cake!)

For the party I made a classic vanilla ice cream in my ice cream maker and Nigella Lawson’s no-churn coffee ice cream. If you don’t have an ice cream maker (or even if you do!) you HAVE to try this no-churn business. I was blown away by the awesome, creamy texture and how easy it was to make. (It is, however, less healthy than what I normally make due to copious amounts of sweetened condensed milk. Worth it for a special occasion, though!)

For cookies I made my salted chocolate chip hazelnut cookies, which were a huge hit (see the recipe here). No one can ever tell they are gluten-free! To facilitate the ice cream sandwich making I made the cookies smaller than I usually do and underbaked them a little. Soooo good. I also made a batch of meringues, which came out a little sticky due to all the humidity. Still yummy, though!

On to this blueberry buttermilk ice cream. It’s super refreshing and tastes lighter than most ice creams because the buttermilk is relatively low in fat. The sour edge from the buttermilk is just noticeable enough, and accented by a bit of lemon extract or lemon liqueur. The ice cream is naturally sweetened with raw honey and of course, the sweetness of the blueberries themselves. I used gelatin here to help add a little creaminess back to the ice cream, but you can leave it out if you like–the ice cream will likely just be a bit icier. This one is halfway to being a sherbet anyway, so I’m sure it would still be delicious. This is just the kind of ice cream you want to curl up with on the couch at the end of a hot summer’s day!

After making Ben’s cake and this ice cream, I STILL have some buttermilk left. Any ideas for using up the last cup or so?

Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
Yield: About 1 quart (6-8 servings)
Prep time: 15 minutes, plus freezing time
Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups lowfat buttermilk, divided
2 teaspoons gelatin
1/4 cup raw honey
2 cups frozen blueberries (do not defrost)
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon lemon extract (or lemon liqueur, such as limoncello)
Pinch of sea salt

Place 1/2 cup of the buttermilk in a small saucepan and sprinkle the gelatin on top. Let the gelatin bloom for 5 minutes, until the surface of the milk appears wrinkled. Set the heat to low and warm the buttermilk, stirring frequently, just until the gelatin dissolves (do not allow the mixture to come to a simmer). Turn off the heat and whisk in the honey until smooth.

Pour the buttermilk and honey mixture into the bowl of a food processor or blender. Add the rest of the buttermilk and all the remaining ingredients and process until smooth.

Transfer the ice cream base to a bowl and freeze for 30 minutes or refrigerate for 2 hours to make sure it’s nice and cold. Process in an ice cream maker, transfer to a chilled freezer-safe container, and freeze for 2 hours before scooping and serving. If the ice cream has been frozen much longer than that, let it thaw for about 10 minutes before digging in.

Note: I took these photos after the ice cream had been frozen for only 2 hours, and as you can see it was easy to scoop. After being frozen for a longer time, the ice cream remained delicious but was a little crumblier and more unruly, resisting forming a perfect scoop. Just a heads up for those interested in scoop aesthetics 🙂

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Comments

Anonymous says

August 15, 2015 at 4:54 pm

Making this right now! I just tasted it before putting it in the freezer and OMG yum! Can't wait for ice cream! Thanks for a delicious recipe!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  August 15, 2015 at 5:35 pm
  
  Oh, great! So glad you are enjoying it 🙂 I wish I had some in MY freezer right now…
  
Julia says

June 1, 2015 at 4:09 pm

SO much amazing news!! Happy belated birthday, congrats on finishing up exams, and I can't wait to hear more about the workshop!! A joint ice cream sando party sounds absolutely fabulous and blueberry buttermilk ice cream?! DROOL!

I'd say you could make pancakes with that last cup of buttermilk! Or a homemade ranch dressing? Sluuurp!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  June 1, 2015 at 11:23 pm
  
  Thank you so much, Julia! Homemade ranch is a great idea 🙂 although pancakes are tempting too…
  
Joanne says

June 1, 2015 at 12:03 pm

Okay, so I am officially having a make-your-own-ice-cream-sandwich birthday party for all future birthdays. Even though my birthday is in February. GENIUS. Also, this ice cream is the prettiest ever color!!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  June 1, 2015 at 2:20 pm
  
  Thank you, Joanne! I think people would totally be into that, even in February 🙂 Unexpected parties are always extra fun!!
  
AmandaPaa says

May 31, 2015 at 8:50 pm

Oh, what fun the photography workshop must have been! I can't wait to hear more about it. Looks like the birthday celebration was a complete success. That purple color! Looks extremely creamy, and I definitely took note of you using the gelatin. I am going to try that with coconut milk ice cream. xo

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 31, 2015 at 9:22 pm
  
  Thank you, Amanda! I bet that would work well with coconut milk ice cream. Using egg yolks is kind of a pain, so I'm very into using gelatin instead 🙂
  
June Burns says

May 31, 2015 at 6:06 pm

What pretty ice cream! Blueberries have such a beautiful color, it is always great to highlight that in treats 🙂

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 31, 2015 at 6:53 pm
  
  Thank you, June! Yes, the color is so inspiring 🙂
  
SallyBR says

May 31, 2015 at 12:30 pm

Happy Birthday, congrats on your master's exams, so many reasons to celebrate! and this ice cream is just gorgeous! What amazing color!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 31, 2015 at 12:46 pm
  
  Thank you, Sally! 🙂
  
Paul Storey says

May 31, 2015 at 11:54 am

Wow this looks wonderful. It has such a vibrant look

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 31, 2015 at 12:46 pm
  
  Thank you, Paul! 🙂
  
Silvia Ribas says

May 30, 2015 at 8:19 pm

Hi Becky and Happy Birthday! I just had to say (again) how much I love this recipe and the photography is stunning! I notice you took this class in Plymouth, MA and wanted to let you know that I am from Holliston, MA… it's always nice to find a fellow blogger nearby. Great luck to you, you are doing amazing and can't wait to see your future work!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 30, 2015 at 10:21 pm
  
  Thank you so much, Silvia! Yes, I'm in Boston–it is so fun to connect with other local bloggers. Maybe we'll get to meet at an event some day 🙂
  
Cathleen says

May 30, 2015 at 8:16 pm

I was so sad when I left behind my ice cream maker when I moved. I guess I'll need to buy a new one for this! This looks so good!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 30, 2015 at 10:21 pm
  
  Thank you, Cathleen! I use my ice cream maker a TON, so I think it's a great investment 🙂
  
Nora says

May 30, 2015 at 8:14 pm

It's been a busy few weeks for you, huh?? Happy birthday! And that photography workshop sounds like a ton of fun! It clearly paid off, too, because these photos are stunning!

- Rebecca Winkler says
  
  May 30, 2015 at 10:20 pm
  
  Thank you so much, Nora!

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