Meyer Lemon Blackberry Ice Cream

Combine the cream, milk, 1 1/2 cups sugar and lemon zest in a large saucepan and just bring to a low boil to dissolve the sugar. In a large bowl, whisk together the yolks and salt. Once the cream mixture has cooled a bit but is still very warm, whisk a quarter cup of it into the yolk mixture. Gradually add the rest of the cream mixture, whisking constantly. Return to the saucepan and cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until thickened (not quite custard-like but enough to coat the back of a spoon). Do not allow it to boil. Return it to the bowl and whisk in the brandy and half of the lemon juice (set the rest aside for the blackberries). Allow to cool fully, stirring occasionally. Once completely cool, pour into a container, seal and freeze. In about 3 hours, stir the ice cream until any frozen chunks are broken down. Repeat every hour until the ice cream is semi-solid but still a little soft.

Place the berries and water in a medium saucepan and simmer for 15 minutes, gently shaking or stirring every few minutes to keep the berries from clumping together. Add the salt, sugar and lemon juice and cook for 2-3 more minutes. Allow to fully cool (the refrigerator can be your friend here) and drizzle 1/3-1/2 of the juice and berries into the ice cream, stirring until it is swirled throughout but not fully mixed. Refreeze and serve with remaining juice and berries poured over each serving.

You can save a lot of time by churning this in an ice cream maker, but at the time I developed the recipe I didn’t have one and was making all my ice creams by hand.