Blueberry Cheesecake Icecream

A self-inflicted challenge to come up with a new frozen dessert once a week from now until the end of summer (although it could extend into fall thanks to caramel apple ice cream, and pumpkin pie ice cream and gingersnap swirl ice cream...) in an effort to... 

1) rid ourselves of high fructose corn syrup poison (slightly dramatic there...for effect) 

2) feed our insatiable appetite for frozen sweets ('tis true.)

3) sap some creativity into my sometimes same-old, same-old kitchen 

and 

4) to blow the dust off of my long-since abandoned recipe blog 

has resulted in... 

ICE CREAM "SUNDAYS" 

 Last week was our very first go-round and I decided, after having spent three mornings of that week picking huckleberries, that I would make Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

Our rating: *****
(The recipe made for a delicious ice cream but the method could have been improved to make the over-all taste better.  The original recipe, found here, called for adding the blueberries raw (mashed a bit) before the second hard freeze.  This sounded great but ended up resulting in little blueberry hockey-pucks in every bite which I just didn't really fancy.)

  This is my modified version, which will hopefully take care of the frozen balls dilemma.  It involves cooking the blueberries until they are soft and making a sort of sauce to mix in the ice cream, rather than adding (and freezing) solid berries.  I'll update when I try it again- probably next huckleberry season! 

In the meantime, if you try it my way- let me know how you like it!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 cups whole milk
• 3 cups heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar (divided)
• 4 egg yolks
• 8 oz. cream cheese
• a splash of lemon juice
• 6 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen (thawed).  I use huckleberries because we pick them and they are free. 
• 1 T cornstarch plus 1 T. water

HOW-TO

1. Combine the blueberries, 1/2 cup sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan on medium heat and bring to a boil. Simmer for 8-10 minutes until blueberries are very soft and almost mushy. Roughly mash or break up the blueberries.. Drizzle the cornstarch/water solution over the blueberries and stir until it comes to a boil and thickens. Turn off the heat and transfer the compote into a heatproof bowl. Let it cool and refrigerate until needed. 
2. Whisk the egg yolks with 1 cup sugar. In a saucepan set on medium heat, bring the milk and the cream to boiling point, slowly pour a small amount on the egg yolks to temper. Pour the remaining over the yolks and sugar.
3. Stir well then pour back in the saucepan and cook over medium low heat until the cream thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon.
4. Remove from the heat and whisk in the cream cheese until completely melted and incorporated. Cool to room temperature then cover and refrigerate until cold.
5. Process in an ice cream maker until it has reached soft-serve stage and almost doubled in size.
6. In a freezer-safe container, place 1/3rd of the churned ice-cream, followed by 1/3rd of the blueberry sauce. Repeat this layering process until finished. Freeze the ice-cream for at least 4 hours before serving.