Blackberry and vanilla ice cream swirled together and loaded with delicious brown sugary bits of streusel crumble! No ice cream machine required!
So I know that I just posted a blackberry recipe last week, but with summer AND blackberry season coming to a close, I just HAD to share this next recipe with you!
Ladies and gents, I give you…
BLACKBERRY CRISP ICE CREAM.
That’s right, Blackberry CRISP Ice Cream. So not only does it combine two ultra creamy ice cream flavors–blackberry and vanilla–but it’s also brimming with hunks of toasty streusel crumble!
Oh, and did I mention that this ice cream is a no-churn recipe and it’s super stinkin’ easy to make? It’s also WAY better than anything you’ll buy in the store! Not to toot my humongous horn or anything…
The FIRST order of business is the streusel crumble. All you have to do is toss some flour, quick oats, chopped pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon together. Then you’ll melt a few tablespoons of butter and combine it with the dry ingredients. Spread this mixture evenly on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, using a rubber spatula to press the mixture flat and together. Pressing the streusel together into one flat sheet will allow it to bake and adhere together in the oven, so that you can break it into nice large chunks after it has cooled.
For the ice cream, you’ll start by making some blackberry syrup. Place 2 cups of blackberries into a medium saucepan over medium heat along with 2 tablespoons of sugar and a splash of water. The water will prevent the berries from burning and help them along in the cooking process.
As the berries cook, use a potato masher or a fork to smash the berries. Once the berries start to simmer, continue cooking and stirring for about 5 minutes, allowing the juices to reduce a little. After those 5 minutes are up, pour the mixture through a fine mesh sieve, using a rubber spatula to press/squeeze the juice from the berry solids. You want to extract as much juice from the blackberries as possible. You should end up with about 2/3 – 3/4 cup juice. Place the juice in the refrigerator to cool completely.
Once your berry juice has cooled completely, you can get started on the ice cream custard. Aside from the berry juice, this ice cream only contains 3 ingredients–heavy cream, vanilla, and sweetened condensed milk. That’s it! Can you believe it?? It’s also so much creamier than your average store-bought ice cream.
First, you’ll whip up the heavy cream until stiff peaks form. Then you’ll combine the sweetened condensed milk and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Fold about a cup of the whipped cream into the sweetened condensed milk to lighten it up a little, before folding in the rest of the whipped cream.
Now it’s time to whip out that delicious blackberry syrup you made earlier! Transfer half of the custard to another large bowl, and add the berry syrup. Using a rubber spatula, gently fold the syrup into the custard. You basically want it semi-combined, meaning mostly combined, but with little streaks of berry syrup throughout.
When it comes to assembling the ice cream, I found that a layering process worked best. You’ll start by dropping spoonfuls of the vanilla custard into the bottom of a freezer-safe container. Between those spoonfuls, drop spoonfuls of the blackberry custard. Sprinkle some of the streusel crumble evenly over both custards. Then repeat this process 3-4 more times until you’ve used up both custards and all of the streusel crumble. At the very end, take a wooden skewer or a butter knife and swirl figure-eights into the ice cream.
The ice cream needs to chill in the freezer for AT LEAST 6 hours before it’s ready to scoop and devour. However, I prefer to chill my ice cream overnight to ensure that it’s completely frozen solid.
What a beautiful mess this masterpiece is…
Blackberry Crisp Ice Cream
Ingredients
Streusel Crumble:
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup quick-cook oats
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 Tablespoons salted butter melted
Ice Cream:
- 2 cups fresh blackberries
- 2 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 Tablespoon water
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk
Instructions
Make the Streusel Crumble:
- Preheat oven to 350ºF, and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, oats, pecans, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Add the butter and stir until a moist crumb forms.
- Spread streusel evenly onto the lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove and allow to cool completely.
Make the Ice Cream:
- In a medium saucepan, cook the blackberries, sugar, and water together over medium heat. Use a fork or potato masher to smash the berries as they cook. Once mixture begins to simmer, continue cooking and stirring for 5 minutes.
- Pour mixture through a fine mesh sieve, using a rubber spatula to push as much juice from the berry solids as possible. You should end up with about 2/3 - 3/4 cup berry juice. Transfer berry juice to a glass measuring cup and chill in the refrigerator until cooled completely.
- In the chilled bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the heavy cream until stiff peaks form.
- Pour sweetened condensed milk and vanilla into a large mixing bowl. Gently fold a third of the whipped cream into the condensed milk until combined. Add the rest, and continue folding until you see just a few streaks of white.
- Remove half of the mixture, scooping it into another bowl. To this half of the mixture, fold in the cooled berry juice until just combined.
- Drop a few spoonfuls of the berry custard and vanilla custard into a freezer-safe container. Sprinkle with the cooled streusel crumble. Repeat this layering process until you've used up both custards and all of the streusel crumble. Using a skewer or butter knife, swirl figure-eights throughout the ice cream.
- Chill the ice cream in the freezer for at least 6 hours, preferably overnight.
- Scoop, serve, and enjoy!