There is nothing I love more than a homemade frozen custard flavored with seasonal fruit, and this homemade blueberry ice cream recipe takes the cake (…cone?). There are over two cups of blueberries blended right into the base to produce a deep color and strong blueberry flavor—no thing such thing as subtle here! And for good measure, the blueberry frozen custard can also be layered with an optional blueberry jam swirl.
I based this recipe off of my strawberry frozen custard after a reader suggestion last year. It proved more difficult than I expected, as blueberries have a much lighter flavor than strawberries. But a number of test batches and many pounds of blueberries from a local farm later, I found a way to maximize the blueberry flavor while preserving that easy scoopability of frozen custards. It is truly the blueberry ice cream of my dreams!
Ingredients for Blueberry Frozen Custard
I make my homemade blueberry ice cream with standard custard ingredients, plus blueberries. There are many different blueberry varieties, and they all have slightly different flavors. Some are sweeter; some are more tart; some are almost floral. For the best flavor, I like using berries on the more tart side, as I think that profile comes through best once cooked and frozen. I’ve listed what each ingredient does and common substitutions where possible below:
- Blueberries. I used fresh blueberries when testing this recipe, but frozen will also work (wild preferred for the strongest flavor!). Just let them thaw overnight in the fridge before attempting to puree them.
- Granulated sugar. Blueberries already have some natural sugar, but it’s not enough to lower the freezing point of the custard. A bit of granulated sugar amplifies the flavor of the blueberries and makes the ice cream scoopable straight out of the freezer. For a slightly different profile, you can substitute brown sugar.
- Egg yolks. Yolks contain emulsifiers that help stabilize the ice cream base with a classic flavor.
- Whole milk. This is the place for indulgence—whole milk contains enough fat to make ice cream creamy. Using lower fat milk will result in icier ice cream.
- Heavy cream. The fat in heavy cream is essential to give us creamy frozen custard with a perfectly scoopable consistency.
- Salt. Just a pinch helps to enhance flavor and balance sweetness.
- Vanilla bean paste. I like to use a little vanilla bean paste to enhance the flavor. Vanilla extract works, too.
- Blueberry jam (optional). There’s not a lot of textural variation in this blueberry ice cream, so I add some back in with blueberry jam. I use my homemade blueberry jam made from whole blueberries, but store-bought jam also works.
My Favorite Equipment for Making Homemade Ice Cream
You will need to use an ice cream maker for velvety smooth frozen custard. I use Cuisinart’s 1.5-quart ice cream maker, but you can also use the KitchenAid ice cream bowl or a fancier compressor model. Though I prefer the texture of churned ice cream over spun ice cream, you can make this blueberry ice cream recipe with a Ninja Creami. (I don’t own the Creami, but I do have the more compact Cuisinart FastFreeze. You can watch my review for it on my YouTube channel!)
I like to store my ice cream in long, reusable ice cream containers with silicone lids. The seal keeps the ice cream fresh, and the length makes it easy to get picture-perfect scoops of ice cream for cones and bowls. And, as a bonus, these ones come with stickers to label your ice cream!
If you don’t already have an ice cream scoop you like, my husband found this stainless steel ice cream scoop last year, and it became our favorite.
Quick Tips to Make Blueberry Ice Cream
You’re in good hands, even if you’ve never made a custard before! You don’t have to temper the eggs for this recipe, which makes it a little easier than my strawberry ice cream recipe. However, there is some back-and-forth with the immersion blender—mostly to prevent excess cleanup.
The following sections will provide an overview of how to make homemade blueberry frozen custard so that you know what to expect for every step. If you’re new to ice cream, I recommend at least skimming these instructions and photos so you know what to look for.
Make the Blueberry Jam
We’ll first make a sort of blueberry jam to cook down the blueberries. This step is necessary for a few reasons: It reduces the water content, concentrates the flavor, and intensifies the color.
When first testing this recipe, I used whole blueberries with the method from my black cherry ice cream. The flavor didn’t come through as intensely, and it took longer for the jam to get up to temp with whole berries. It also was a lot trickier (read: unsafe) pouring only part of a steaming hot, chunky liquid into a small immersion blender cup… For those reasons, I recommend just starting with a pureed blueberry base.
Puree the blueberries in a blender, food processor, or immersion blender cup. I used an immersion blender because there wasn’t a lot to puree, and it’s easier to clean than a blender or food processor.
Pour the pureed blueberries into a medium pot, add sugar, and stir to combine. Then, cook to about 215°F/102°C, stirring occasionally, to reduce the water content sufficiently. As they cook, the blueberries will deepen significantly in color. That will lighten up once we add the heavy cream and milk.
Make the Blueberry Custard Base
While the jam is cooking, whisk your egg yolks and milk together. You want the mixture totally combined, with no visible streaks of egg so that it blends seamlessly into the blueberry cream.
I reuse my immersion blender here so that I don’t have to wash up extra dishes. If you’ve already rinsed out your blender, feel free to just use a whisk and measuring cup. The mixture doesn’t have to be emulsified, just mixed well to reduce the chance of the eggs overcooking.
When the blueberry jam hits 215°F/102°C, remove from heat and add cold heavy cream to cool the blueberry jam. This should reduce the temperature quite a bit, to a point where you can slowly stir in your beaten egg mixture without the risk of it scrambling.
Once you’ve added all of the egg mixture, return the pot to medium heat. Cook the blueberry custard, stirring occasionally, until it reaches 170°F/75°C. Depending on how cold your heavy cream was, this can take around 5-10 minutes of occasional stirring.
Straining the Blueberry Custard Base
For super smooth blueberry ice cream, you may pour the custard through a fine mesh strainer into a heat-safe bowl. Press the blueberry pulp against the side of the sieve with a spatula to extract as much blueberry custard as you can. Then, add vanilla bean paste or extract, cover, and chill until cold to the touch.
I tested this recipe with and without straining the custard before churning. I slightly preferred the texture of the strained ice cream, but the non-strained had a slightly stronger blueberry flavor. Neither ice cream clogged my dasher, so straining is optional.
How to Churn Blueberry Ice Cream
Right before adding the chilled custard to your ice cream maker, place the ice cream container you plan to use in the freezer. Having a chilled container will prevent the ice cream from melting directly on contact when you transfer it later!
Pour the blueberry custard into your ice cream maker, and churn according to the manufacturer’s instructions, until the ice cream forms rounded domes above the sides of the paddle. This ice cream usually takes my ice cream maker about 15 minutes to churn completely, as it’s thicker than some.
In the last couple minutes of churning, take your container and any mix-ins out of the fridge/freezer so you’re ready to go!
A Secret for Scoopable Homemade Ice Cream
I don’t churn by time anymore, because every ice cream base and ice cream maker is different. Instead, I churn my ice cream until the custard forms large, rounded domes above the paddle of my ice cream maker. See the image below for an example.
Adding a Blueberry Ripple to Ice Cream
Use a heavy-duty spatula to transfer about a third of the ice cream into your ice cream container. Spoon a couple dollops of blueberry jam on top of the blueberry ice cream, then top with a thin layer of ice cream. Add a few more spoonfuls of jam, then top with the remaining ice cream. If desired, add another spoonful or two of jam on top.
Use that same spoon to swirl the blueberry jam. Move the spoon side to side and up and down the container a couple of times, until the jam has been swirled through most of the ice cream but hasn’t been fully incorporated into the ice cream. Then, cover the container and freeze. I recommend at least four hours for the edges to set, but overnight will ensure even the center has frozen completely.
This blueberry ice cream is soft enough to scoop directly out of the freezer when you plan to serve it.
Other Recipes You May Enjoy
I love making intensely fruit-flavored custard-based ice creams! If you liked this recipe for using up fresh summer fruit, you’ll probably also love my black cherry ice cream and strawberry ice cream recipes.
If you don’t have any more fruit on hand but still have tons of leftover egg yolks after making macarons, I recommend making my cinnamon graham ice cream and cookie butter ice cream.
Dish Cleanup: Gonna Take a While
I rate my recipe cleanups on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 is only a handful of dishes, and 5 is everything including the kitchen sink.
This fresh blueberry ice cream recipe has a cleanup rating of a 4. There’s the pot to make the custard, a few measuring cups, the ice cream maker bowl, and a variety of measuring
Homemade Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe
Thanks so much for stopping by!
If you make this blueberry ice cream recipe and love it, please don’t forget to leave a review to share how it turned out with others.
Blueberry Ice Cream (Frozen Custard)
Ingredients
For the Blueberry Ice Cream Base
- 2 ½ cups (390 g) blueberries fresh or thawed
- ¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- 4 large egg yolks
- ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk
- 2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste or vanilla extract
For the Blueberry Jam Swirl (optional)
- ½-⅔ cup (120-160 ml) blueberry jam
Instructions
Making the Blueberry Custard Base
- Use an immersion blender or food processor to puree the blueberries till mostly smooth. Seeds and small bits of skin are fine. Add the blueberry puree to a medium pot.2 ½ cups (390 g) blueberries
- Stir the sugar into the puree, then cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. The color of the puree will change from a muddy blue to a deep violet as the water cooks off and the flavor intensifies. When the blueberry jam reaches 215°F/102°C, remove from heat.¾ cup (150 g) granulated sugar
- Stir in the heavy cream and salt. This will lower the temperature of the blueberry jam and should eliminate the need to temper the egg yolks in a separate bowl.2 cups (480 ml) heavy cream, 1 pinch salt
- In a measuring cup (or the cup from your immersion blender), thoroughly mix the egg yolks and milk together. Then, slowly stir the egg yolk mixture into the cooled blueberry cream until combined.4 large egg yolks, ½ cup (120 ml) whole milk
- Place the blueberry custard back over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the custard is thick enough to coat the back of a spoon or is about 170°F/75°C, about 5-10 minutes. Do not let the custard boil.*
- Optional: Strain through a fine mesh sieve for a super smooth blueberry ice cream.
- Transfer the blueberry custard to a large, heat-safe bowl. Stir in the vanilla, then cover the container and chill in the fridge for at least three hours or up to one day, until the mixture is cold to the touch.1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
Churning the Blueberry Custard
- Place the container in which you'll store the ice cream in the freezer to chill.
- Pour the chilled custard into an ice cream maker and churn according to manufacturer's instructions. This usually takes around 15-20 minutes. I allow the ice cream to churn until it forms rounded domes above the paddle for soft and scoopable ice cream even straight out of the freezer. (Reference images above in blog post.)
- Transfer the blueberry ice cream to your freezer-safe container in stages: Layer about a third of the ice cream on the bottom of the container, then top with a few spoonfuls of blueberry jam. Add another layer of ice cream, followed by more blueberry jam. Add the remaining ice cream, then top with any leftover blueberry jam. To create a swirl, run a spoon or knife side to side and up and down the length of the container.½-⅔ cup (120-160 ml) blueberry jam
- For blueberry soft serve, enjoy right away. For traditional blueberry ice cream, cover and freeze for at least eight hours to allow the ice cream to firm up before serving. Enjoy!
Video
Notes
Recommended Supplies
Nutrition
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