I have one of those kids that has her mind made up.
You know the type. She decides she wants something and she won’t let you forget about it until it happens. I have *no* idea who she gets this from…ahem…but each of my 3 kids is so different from the other, and this kid just has this driven focus on her ideas that you just can’t change!
Soooo…last year after we went blueberry picking, she decided that for her birthday next year she wanted a blueberry cake with blueberry ice cream. And she has reminded me of this desire every week since last summer 🙂
Since we live in blueberry country, I literally have a shelf full of 60-70 pounds of frozen blueberries to play with all year, so I was excited to pull out the last bag from our picking last summer to make her birthday wishes come true.
I decided I didn’t want a full on blueberry ice cream since we were also having blueberry cupcakes at her party, and thought adding a “pie filling” type swirl would do the trick. She was thrilled – and it turned out really delicious!
You can’t go wrong with fresh, whole cream and real blueberries swirled together! It was pretty amazing!
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A quick note on ice cream makers! I have a super simple ice cream maker
that works so well. You really don’t have to overspend on one unless you want to. It is a nice investment for your kitchen, and I have had mine for over 6 years now and it still runs perfect (and it gets a work out in the summer!). I do have this larger ice cream maker
on my wish list so I can make birthday party amounts of ice cream without doing it in batches/shifts though 😉
Blueberry Swirl Ice Cream :: Dairy Free Option
Ingredients
BLUEBERRY SWIRL ::
- 1 ½ cups frozen blueberries
- 2 TB water
- 2 TB tapioca flour
- ¼ cup raw honey or pure cane sugar if your blueberries are on the sour side you may want to add more – ours were from our summer picking picked at the peak of the season so they were very sweet!
ICE CREAM ::
- 2 cups organic whole cream Preferably raw. Or preferably not ultra pasteurized. If you are dairy free you can use whole coconut milk.
- 1 cup organic whole milk Preferably raw. Or preferably not ultra pasteurized. If you are dairy free you can use whole coconut milk.
- 1/3 cup organic pure cane sugar Raw honey or pure maple syrup works too
- 1 TB vanilla extract
- 3 TB tapioca flour If you tolerate eggs, you could use a few egg yolks instead for creaminess!
- ¼ tsp sea salt
- 1 TB organic vodka This is optional and the ice cream will be fine without it – but it does keep the ice cream from getting rock hard in the freezer. If you choose to leave it out you can just leave the ice cream on the counter for a bit before scooping.
Instructions
- Make the swirl. Put the blueberries, water, and tapioca in a small sauce pan and bring to a simmer. Once everything is warmed through and thickened, turn the heat off and add the raw honey. If you are using pure cane sugar you can put it in right along with the berries so it can cook/dissolve. Set the berry mixture aside.
- Make the ice cream. Put all the ice cream ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and blend with hand beaters to combine. Put the ice cream mixture in the fridge for 30 minutes, stir through, and then process in your ice cream maker according to your manufacturer’s instructions. Mine goes for 30 minutes. I have a very simple ice cream maker and it works great - no need for fancy equipment if you can't do it!
- Transfer the processed ice cream to a container with a lid, and fold in the blueberry mixture.
- Freeze the ice cream
Looking for more frozen treat ideas? Check out my Treat Ideas board on Pinterest!
More real food ideas you might like:
This looks so pretty and yummy! What a good mama you are. 🙂
Thank you <3
Yum! Both the blueberry cupcake & this ice cream look soooooo good, we will definitely have to try them out!! We have made your straberry cake & ice cream recipes and they were also delish! In fact on the way home from church yesterday my husband asked if we can get some cream this weekend to make homemade strawberry ice cream! A total win in my book 🙂 Your pictures are so pretty, I’m sure this was a very fun birthday party for a 4yo 🙂 God bless!
Thank you Steph! So glad to bring some real food treats to everyone’s home!
I thought this was supposed to be dairy free? At least that was mentioned.
Hi Asha! Thank you for catching that! I’m sorry -yes it can be made dairy free by swapping the cream/milk for coconut milk! Coconut milk works great in any ice cream recipe! I added that to the recipe – thank you!
This looks SO good! I love that swirl, yum! I love that she had her mind made up a year in advance 🙂
I love a woman that knows what she wants even is she is little. lol She totally reminds me of my three year old. I’ve never tried making ice cream but this looks so yummy. My kids would love me for sure if I made this for them.
Oh my goodness this looks amazing. I’m going to try to make this this weekend!
I WISH I lived in blueberry country! It is expensive to get them here! I love blueberries and that ice cream looks so yummy!
I could totally enjoy that ice cream right now
OMG I love all things blueberry. I must try this.
YUM! This looks absolutely delicious! Wish blueberries were more readily available where I live! (:
First blueberry cupcakes and not this ice cream. You are on a roll. Yum!
now not ‘not’
Yummy, I miss my grandmother’s homemade ice cream. I love the idea of adding blueberries or other fresh fruit.
Holy cow…that looks absolutely amazing. I’m not a huge fan of blueberries, but I’ve been warming up to them more and more.
OMG!!! This looks so good! Thank you for making my mouth water! I want to make this and put this on a warm blueberry pie! Pretty pictures!
Hi,
Sorry this may be a lack of knowledge on my part, but is it safe to put vodka in it if you are going to be giving this ice cream to children? & do you use coconut milk or coconut cream instead of the whole cream? Thanks!
Hi Heather! I don’t worry about the vodka since it is such a small amount dispersed in a large amount – but you can for sure leave it out if you wish. I have always made my ice cream with it and I serve it to my girls without hesitation – they get a small scoop and that is that 🙂 And you can use just whole coconut milk instead of the cream!