Day 2: Blueberry Ice Cream Pops

Continuing with my nostalgia for all things French,  today's recipe is an homage to the best ice cream I have ever tasted.*  Glacier Berthillion  on the Ile St Louis is a must for anyone visiting the City of Lights.   I made many a visit when I was working as an au pair right out of college.

Berthillion only uses natural ingredients and their ice cream starts with three of my favorite things: cream, egg yolks and sugar.  Flavors change depending on the season but I tend to be a chocolate repeater

Alas, I am not growing cocoa on the farmette so my ice cream once again involves eggs from my girls and blueberries from my.  Oops, that is a little bit crass, but you get the point.

What you will need:


For the berry syrup:

2C fresh blueberries
1/4C sugar
squeeze of lemon


For the ice cream:

3C half and half
1C heavy cream
8 large egg yolks
3/4 C sugar
2t vanilla extract

Chop up berries in blender or food processor.  Add sugar and lemon juice and pulse.

Cook berry mixture over medium heat until it gently boils.  Keep stirring.  Skim off any foam that may have formed and strain mixture.  I used a pasta stainer because I wanted some of the blueberry bits to come through.

Add egg yolks and sugar to the blueberry syrup.  Whisk until combined

In the same pan you cooked your blueberries, because hey, we are all environmentally conscious here and who wants to dirty two pans? bring half and half, cream and vanilla to almost a boil.

Slowly add cream to blueberry egg yolk mixture.  I use a ladle and whisked mixture after each ladle full.

Return mixture to pan and cook over medium heat until custard starts to thicken (about 7 minutes). Stir constantly so it does not stick to the bottom of the pan.

Let custard cool to room temperature.  At this point you could break out your ice cream maker and make a proper ice cream, but my children are more inclined to eat something fruity if it comes in pop form.  It also cuts out a step which I am all for.

Pour custard into popsicle molds and freeze.

We enjoyed these with friends on a hot day.  Even the blueberry averse seemed to like them.


*Sadly, I have never been to Italy but I hear the gelato is bellissimo.