BLUEBERRY MUFFIN ICE CREAM

I don't know if y'all heard, but it's national ice cream month, and one of my favorite magazine blogs, Simply Stated from Real Simple, is hosting an ice cream social. What evil awesome genius would come up with this, you ask? Why, look no further than my lovely buddy Kristin Appenbrink, associate editor at RealSimple.com. We met up in NYC recently and she filled me in on her delicious ice cream plans and I swiftly asked if I could come along. I had been knocking around this "blueberry muffin ice cream" idea for a bit, mainly because I love the challenge and also because it fit into my cousin Rachel's red, white, and blue birthday theme. Bringing out the essence of a blueberry muffin in ice cream form, without just blending muffins into the batter, was a fun task, and like most fun tasks, it started with brown butter.

Brown butter, vanilla, and brown sugar to give the base that "just baked" flavor, sweet-tart blueberry compote for that perfect swirl, and cinnamon streusel crumbled throughout for a bit of texture and that muffin-top taste. The brown butter ice cream if great by itself, but the blueberry muffin tweak is definitely worth a shot. Enjoy!










For 2 pints
3 cups half and half
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
3 egg yolks
3/4 tsp kosher salt
4 oz butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup blueberry compote or jam
3 tablespoons cinnamon streusel


Simmer the butter on medium heat until takes on a nice golden brown color. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temp. In a large pot, bring the half and half up to an almost boil over medium high heat. Meanwhile, whisk together the yolks, sugars and salt until smooth. To temper the egg mixture, carefully whisk in about 1 cup of the hot liquid into the egg mixture until smooth. Then whisk the egg mixture into the remaining amount of half and half in the pot. Return to medium low heat, and cook up to 170 degrees F, constantly stirring along the bottom of the pot to ensure even cooking. Once it has reached the 170, remove from heat and whisk in the vanilla and brown butter. Strain through a wire mesh strainer. Allow to cool to about room temperature in an ice bath and pop in the fridge.

Once the mixture is chilled through, put it in your ice cream maker. Once it's gotten pretty firm, pour the ice cream into a large bowl and fold in the blueberry compote and then the streusel so it ribbons through it. Put in a container and freeze until firm. Enjoy!

For Compote:
4 half pints blueberries
Juice of 3 limes
2 cups sugar

Sterilze 2 pint jars. Combine everything in a bowl to coat, and then heat over a medium flame until the blueberries liquify and if you stir a spoon through it, you can see the bottom of the pan for a beat. Basically, it should look kind of syrupy. Pour into the jars, tighten the lids, and flip upside-down until room temp. Keep refrigerated.

For Cinnamon Streusel:
1/2 cup flour
2 oz butter, cold and cubed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Pinch of salt

Using your fingers or a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, salt, and cinnamon and then mix in the butter until crumbly. Place on a baking sheet with a silicone mat and bake at 350 F for 10 minutes. Break apart and mix the streusel up, and bake for another 10 minutes or until golden brown. Crumble and cool.