Ingredients
Units
Scale
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp ground vanilla beans (or 1 bean split and scraped)
- 1 tsp ground cardamom (maybe more to taste)
- 6 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup sugar + 1/4 cup sugar for berries
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
- 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries
Instructions
- Combine the milk and cream in a heavy saucepan. Add the ground vanilla beans (or the split pod and insides) and ground cardamom.
- Bring the mixture to a simmer over medium heat, then remove from heat and set aside for a moment.
- In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks with 3/4 cup sugar and the salt. Beat well, then gradually add the warm milk 1/2 cup at a time, whisking well. Once you've added 1 1/2 cups of warm milk, pour the egg mixture into the saucepan with the remaining milk while whisking.
- Cook the mixture over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (6-8 minutes). Remove from the heat, pour through a fine mesh sieve (discard the vanilla pod), cover and put in the refrigerator until fully chilled — about two hours.
- At the same time, combine the blackberries and the 1/4 cup of white sugar in a small bowl. Keep it in the refrigerator, but mash with a fork every 45 minutes or so.
- Once the blackberries have been combined with the sugar for two hours, press half of the berries through a fine mesh sieve or cheesecloth. Discard the seeds and pulp from that half, and mix the syrup back in with the remaining berries.
- When the custard has fully cooled, mix 2/3 of the blackberries in with the custard and then follow the directions on your ice cream maker. When you're ready to transfer the ice cream from the maker to the freezer, pour half of it into a loaf tin, followed by half of the remaining berries, and marble with a fork. Repeat.
- Cover and store in an airtight container. Freeze for 4 hours, before serving.