Blackberry Sage Ice Cream

It isn't officially summer yet, but it's been warm and pleasant and that's a good enough reason for me to make homemade ice cream. In fact it's better this time of year because making ice cream requires standing over a hot stove for a little while and that really sucks when it's 90 degrees and 90% humidity.

So anyway, last weekend I made Blackberry and Sage ice cream. Ever since I made Cherry Basil ice cream last summer, I've wanted to try my hand at other fruit/herb combinations. The Blackberry Sage had a wonderful flavor--tart and sweet from the blackberries, but with a subtle herbal/citrusy backdrop.

Here's how I made it (I use The Best Recipe's vanilla ice cream without the vanilla as a base and then make adaptations from there):

Blackberry Sage Ice Cream

4 egg yolks
1.5 cups heavy cream (heavy cream really does work best, the consistency is off with light cream)
1.5 cups whole milk (I used soy milk in this recipe, since that's all we had around the house)
3/4 cup sugar
About 1 cup pureed blackberries
6 sage leaves

• In a pan over medium heat, heat the cream, milk, and 1/2 cup sugar to about 175 degrees.
• In a separate bowl, combine egg yolks and remaining sugar.
• Once the cream mixture has reached 175, use a large ladle to spoon the cream mixture into the egg mixture and stir constantly. Gently spoon in another ladle-full of the heated cream mixture and stir. Then slowly pour the egg mixture into the cream mixture on the stove, stirring constantly.
• Heat the mixture on the stove to about 180-185 to cook the egg yolks, stirring constantly.
• When the temperature has reached 185, pour the mixture into an ice bath and add the sage leaves. Once cool, place in the refrigerator for several hours.
• After several hours of cooling, remove the sage leaves from the ice cream base and stir in pureed blackberries. (The blackberries should be kept in the fridge too.)
• Add the ice cream base to the ice cream maker and in 20 minutes, the ice cream should be thick.
• Pour the ice cream into a separate container, cover with plastic wrap and leave to set in the freezer for at least two hours.