No churn blackberry ice cream made right in your food processor ~ this easy method for homemade ice cream is genius (and delicious!)
blackberry ice cream without an ice cream maker
Everybody loves homemade ice cream, but not everybody has or wants an ice cream machine. I get it, it can take up limited kitchen space, especially if you only get the urge for homemade ice cream a couple of times a year.
what you’ll need
- heavy cream
- milk
- sugar
- vanilla
- blackberries ~ the blackberries need to be frozen, so you can freeze fresh berries or buy them already frozen. I vote for freezing fresh summer berries for fabulous results.
the no churn food processor method for making ice cream
I came across this idea here and decided to give it a try. It basically replaces the ice cream machine with the more common kitchen tool, the food processor. Here’s the gist:
- Combine your ice cream mixture as usual: mix cream, milk, sugar, and flavoring together until the sugar dissolves.
- Transfer it to a large heavy duty zip lock baggie.
- Place the baggie flat on a baking sheet and freeze until solid.
- Break up the frozen cream mixture and process in a food processor until smooth.
- Blend in frozen berries until smooth.
- Spread into a pan and freeze until ready to enjoy.
variations on no churn blackberry ice cream
There’s lots of delicious options possible with this basic concept. The most obvious is to change up the fruit. Any berry will work beautifully, and bananas will make an especially creamy ice cream. Try swapping out the cream for a whole milk yogurt, or the sugar for honey. Lots of options!
I’m continually amazed at what the food processor can do. And at the incredible ingenuity of people who love ice cream 🙂 You’ll want to keep your food processor front and center on your counter all season long.
more no churn ice cream ideas!
- No Churn Bailey’s Ice Cream
- No Churn Wild Blueberry Frozen Yogurt
- Ballymaloe No Churn Vanilla Ice Cream
- No Churn Cranberry Ice Cream
- No Churn Pumpkin Spice Ice Cream
Easy No Churn Blackberry Ice Cream
Equipment
- full sized food processor I use this model
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cups sugar
- 1 cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 12 ounces frozen blackberries
Instructions
- Mix the heavy cream and sugar in a saucepan and heat until the sugar dissolves. Take off the heat and add the milk and vanilla. Update: You can skip the stove and just stir the sugar into the cream, it will dissolve more slowly than if you heat it up, but it will dissolve.
- Cool the mixture and then pour it into a gallon sized zip lock bag. You can set the bag in a bowl to make this easier. Close the bag securely and lay it flat on a baking sheet. Put it in the freezer and freeze solid. I left mine overnight.
- Cut open the bag and break up the mixture into pieces. I used a knife to cut off chunks. Put them in a food processor and process until smooth. This will take a couple of minutes. Scrape down the machine and redistribute the chunks a few times to help your machine out.
- When the machine runs freely and the ice cream is smooth,
- Add in the frozen berries. The machine will take a while, but it will eventually get all the berries pureed into the ice cream. Redistribute the berries a few times during the process.
- Scrape the ice cream into a loaf pan and smooth it out. Cover with foil and place back in the freezer until firm enough to scoop.
- Scoop and enjoy (then start dreaming up your next batch!)
Notes
Nutrition
Brilliant! I’ve had my Cuisinart for 30 years, and it’s going strong.
SUE! your non-ice cream maker ice cream looks fantastic! I, too, am continually amazed at what food processors can do. Everyone should own one; it should be a requirement.
Yum! I’m a bit weird about the seeds in blackberries, but any fruit would work with this. Way to prove you don’t need the ice cream machine!
I know, a lot of people don’t like seeds, and I was thinking that so many berries, like raspberries and strawberries, also have seeds. How about banana? I think that sounds really good.
Banana is good, have you tried just blitzing frozen bananas in a food processor? Instant ice cream! Yet another wonder of the food processor! (NB – you could always blitz fresh berries to make a coulis, then sieve out the seeds – a bit of extra work, but worth it! Spoon and swirl in the coulis for berry ripple, or process for the full colour effect!)
This looks sooo delicious! I don’t have a food processor…do you think a blender would work? I love your blog!!! 🙂
Not sure, I haven’t tried!
“in exchange for the pleasure of shuffling one less bulky, rarely used machine around my kitchen cabinets.” — oh, you too? 🙂 I never even bought an ice cream maker for that reason but I do it with things like a salad spinner.
And this totally works with coocnut, almond, soy, nutmilks. When I was strictly vegan, I used to make freezer ice cream all the time. Blend everything you want in a blender/Vita/food proc, put it into the freezer, let it get pretty frozen, and about 5 mins before you want to eat it, let it thaw/re-blend/pulse & serve. Depending on what you use it can be a little crystal-ey but overall, works fine, is healthier and no bulky ice cream maker needed.
I love love the color of this Sue!
Oh my god the salad spinner, what a joke, I’ve bought and chucked out more salad spinners than I can count.
I’m interested in a coconut milk version because I keep seeing incredible flavors at Whole Foods. Your method sounds easy!
This looks fantastic! I wonder if you could make chocolate or coffee. Any ideas?
For coffee I would probably add instant espresso powder to the cream while it heats up. I’d also add cardamom to make a Turkish coffee version. (Now I’ve given away the surprise of my next batch)
For chocolate I guess I’d melt chocolate into the hot cream. Sounds good to me 🙂
OMG What a simply stunning color! You know I have avoided buying an ice cream machine as I doubt I can be trusted with such wonders in my freezer….but hey, it won’t be there long. Totally enticing recipe for our sudden warm weather.
I have one of those ice cream makers that is taking up real estate in the freezer, so this is perfect. What I also like is freezing things in zip lock bags.
Just imagine, fresh homemade ice cream AND room for the frozen peas!
Brilliant, just brilliant – what a great idea! Thank you so much for sharing this.
Thanks! I have a feeling it’s just the first of many more to come!
I had an ice cream maker and I agree. Too much space. And then my son took it and started making great ice cream. I decided I wanted it back. No go. This will show him!
Oh I know, I’ve handed down more than a few things to daughters only to regret it later. Now it’s your son’s turn to be jealous!