Blueberry, Honey, and Lavender Ice Cream

The trifecta of blueberry, honey, and lavender is so good! It's so simple, but sophisticated at the same time. It's a perfect summer treat and look at that fun purple color. Let's be real, it's hard to go wrong with homemade ice cream, but trust me, this one is really good.

This recipe uses a custard base. This is a common technique to get ultra creamy and delicious ice cream. It's a tad more work than just adding the ingredients directly to the ice cream maker because there's a little bit of cooking involved, but if you can spare the patience, the end result is so worth it. When making the custard over the stove, you can tell that the custard is ready by when it starts to stick to the back of the spoon, as shown in the picture below.

If you are using home grown lavender for this recipe, you'll want to make sure that your lavender is English lavender (Lavandula angustifolia). This type of lavender is considered the best for culinary use. Other types of lavender may be edible (fact check me on that), but are better for use in things like soaps or perfumes. If you don't have homegrown lavender to use, you can also find lavender in most large grocery stores on the spice aisle.

Blueberry, Honey, and Lavender Ice Cream

Yield: 1 quart

Ingredients:

3 c half and half

5 egg yolks

2 tsp fresh or dried lavender (culinary grade)

1/2 c honey, divided

1/4 tsp salt

1 c frozen or fresh blueberries

2 Tbsp water

Instructions:

1. Follow ice cream maker instructions for pre-chilling ice cream maker unit, as necessary.

2. Add half and half to a medium sized pot over low heat, stirring frequently, until it is lukewarm.

3. Turn off heat.

4. Add the lavender to the milk mixture and stir.

5. Place lid on pot and let sit for at least 20 minutes. Letting it steep longer will intensify the lavender flavor.

6. Place a fine mesh sieve over a bowl. Pour the milk mixture over the sieve to separate out the lavender. Discard the lavender.

7. Pour the lavender milk mixture back into the pot. Return to medium-low heat. Add the salt and 1/4 cup of the honey. Stir until the honey is fully dissolved. Remove from heat and set aside.

8. Separate 5 egg yolks from the egg whites. The egg whites can be discarded or set aside for a different recipe.

9. Lightly whisk the egg yolks to combine them.

10. To prevent the eggs from scrambling, spoon small amounts of the warm milk mixture into the eggs and stir. Repeat the process until the eggs have reached a similar temperature to the milk mixture. At that point, the egg yolks can be added to the milk mixture in the pot.

11. Return the pot to medium-low heat. Stir frequently to prevent the milk from scalding. If needed, turn the heat all the way to low.

12. Continue stirring until the milk starts to thicken and reaches around 170 degrees, usually about 5-10 minutes. Once the milk mixture is thick enough that it starts to coat the back of the spoon, it is done. Remove from heat.

13. Place fine mesh sieve over a bowl or large glass food storage container. Pour the custard mixture over the sieve. This will separate out any bits that may have curdled.

14. Place lid over custard mixture and let cool on the countertop until it is cool enough to place in the fridge. Refrigerate until fully chilled, usually about 4 hours.

15. Add blueberries and water to a small pot over medium-high heat.

16. Once blueberries have started to break down slightly, add 1/4 cup of honey.

17. Stir frequently, so that mixture does not burn.

18. Continue to cook until the blueberry mixture starts to thicken and has reduced to about half the volume. Remove from heat.

19. Pour blueberry mixture into glass food storage container. Let cool on the countertop until it is cool enough to place in the fridge. Refrigerate until fully chilled.

20. Once blueberry mixture and lavender custard are fully chilled, prepare ice cream maker as instructed by manufacturer.

21. Add lavender custard to the ice cream maker and turn on.

22. Once the ice cream starts to solidify, slowly spoon the blueberry mixture into the ice cream maker, while it is still running. The firmer the ice cream is when the blueberry mixture is added, the more the blueberry will remain separated and will result in more of a swirled texture. Alternatively, if the blueberry mixture is added in while the ice cream is softer, it will result in a more homogenous mixture.

23. Continue to let the ice cream mix in the ice cream maker until it is the texture of soft served ice cream.

24. The ice cream can be eaten immediately as soft serve, or you can place it in the freezer for a few hours for a more firm ice cream texture.

25. Scoop and enjoy!