TWD: Blueberry Ice Cream

So, I'm a day late (and many dollars short) with my post for TWD, but I served the blueberry sour cream ice cream Tues night and it was hard to get the post up until now. I made this ice cream once before and though I love the flavor and the ease of preparation, I still think a custard-based ice cream results in a creamier texture. Nevertheless, this is still a great recipe and I love the tanginess of the sour cream as a change from the eggs-and-cream standard base.

I actually used 1/4 cup sour cream (because that's all I had) and 1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt but I think the yogurt tastes almost identical to sour cream so there was no difference. I used lots of lime juice - almost 3/4 of a lime as opposed to 1/4 lime and still didn't taste as much lime as I would have liked. I think the citrus quotient could be significantly upped.

The Summer Fruit Galette made an encore appearance:

This time, I used plums and blackberries and significantly more custard. It was delicious, again, but I think the apricots would always be my first choice if available. My farmer's market fruit stand said their season is over already - so sweet but so fleeting!

I had also made a vanilla & wild raspberry swirl ice cream last week after picking 3 quarts of wild raspberries in the woods. We served both with the tart. Wild raspberries are AMAZING! Oh my goodness - they are nothing like the ones even from farm stands, let alone the grocery store. I can't describe the texture - they're sort of like little silky pearls of jammy goodness. You just have to taste them to experience it. My friend Howard showed me several spots where there are hundreds (or more) of wild raspberry bushes. If the day had been cooler and I wasn't sweating buckets, I could have picked for half the day and ended up with several gallons - all for free! When they're running $4.50 for a half-pint, it's well worth the effort.

This week's recipe was chosen by Dolores of Chronicles in Culinary Curiosity and you can find the recipe on her blog.

On a side note, I ordered bulk vanilla beans today from The Organic Vanilla Bean Company. What a bargain! I got a mixed sampler of 40 beans for $18. They normally cost me $1.50-$2 each, so this is about 75% off. And they're organic, too! I am excited to start using vanilla bean in more recipes. I normally hold back because of the expense but now I predict a bit of a vanilla obsession will take hold in my kitchen. I am even planning to try making my own vanilla extract once I have enough used beans accumulated. I found guidelines for making your own extract here. If you're wondering what you might get for Xmas from me this year, think vanilla.

Have a great week, everyone!

p.s. thanks to herb for the photos this week!