Strawberry Ice Cream With a Blueberry Syrup

This is an Instructable on how to create delicious Strawberry & Blueberry Ice Cream from scratch. This recipe should yield a generous quart.

Step 1: Gathering Our Ingredients & Materials

First we'll begin by gathering our ingredients & materials. Below is a list of what we will be using.

Ingredients:

1/4 teaspoon of vanilla flavor
1/2 cup of Half-and-Half
1 cup of Heavy (whipping) Cream
3/4 cup of sugar
3 egg yolks, beaten
1 lb (pound) of fresh strawberries, hulled
2 lbs (pounds) of fresh blueberries

Materials:

1 callandor (used to wash the berries)
2 mixing bowls
1 measuring cup (I used multiple measuring cups but you may use one)
1 stainless steel pot
1 large pan (used to create an ice bath)
1 strainer (optional)
1 whisk
1 spatula
1 blender
1 ice cream maker (not in above photograph)

Step 2: Prepping the Berries

First rinse the blueberries and remove any stems. Place them in a container and back in the refrigerator. Next wash the strawberries, as you finish washing each one, hull them. Place the strawberries in a container and place back in the refrigerator.

Step 3: Making the Ice Bath

Taking your large pan add water and ice, then place an empty mixing bowl inside the bath, and set your strainer on top.

**The strainer is optional, I used it to prevent any overcooked egg from the next step from entering the mixture.

Step 4: Creating the Custard

Place 3 egg yolks in a mixing bowl. Whisk until light yellow (this adds air to the egg yolk).
Pour 1/2 cup of Half-and-Half into stainless steel pot. Add 1 cup of Heavy Cream into same pot. Then 1/4 teaspoon of Vanilla Flavor.
Place pot on stove and set to Medium heat.
While the cream is being scalded, add 1/2 a cup of sugar into the egg yolks and whisk together.
Once the cream is scalded temper the yolks and sugar mixture. (Pour about half the cream from the pot, into the mixing bowl containing the yolks and sugar, whisk together.)
Pour the temper'd mixture from mixing bowl back into your pot warming the cream. Whisking continuously until the custard coats the spoon.
Take your pot and pour the custard into the mixing bowl you previously set in the ice bath. (If using a strainer, do so on this step, this will keep any overcooked egg from the mixture.)
Whisk allowing the heat to escape. Keep the custard in the ice bath until it is chilled to about room temperature. Once cooled down, cover the bowl, remove from the ice bath, and place in your refrigerator for 2-3 hours.

Step 5: The Berries

The Strawberries

Place your hulled strawberries in the blender and puree.

The Blueberries

Taking about 1 1/2 lbs of blueberries place them in a pot, add a small amount of water (just enough to coat the bottom of the pan), also add a bit of sugar (or honey) and bring to a medium heat. As the berries cook down use a masher and mash the berries. Allow the berries to cool.
After allowing the berries to cool for a few minutes I put them in the blender and pureed them as well.
Putting the syrup in a small container I placed the syrup in the refrigerator and allowed to cool.

Step 6: The Ice Cream Machine & Adding the Strawberries

*Ice cream machines are different, following your manufacturer's instructions from here on.

For my machine I took the bowl out of the freezer, assembled it, and got it ready to add the custard. Adding the custard, we had stored in the refrigerator a few hours ago, I allowed the machine to stir the custard for 20 minutes (10 minutes in one direction & 10 minutes in the other direction). When the timer went off I took my ice cream and transferred it to a plastic container. There I poured the pureed strawberries mixing it evenly.

Now take the container of ice cream and place it in the freezer. Allow it to freeze, this may take a couple hours.