Blueberry and Vanilla Ice Cream

I love blueberries (everyday with yoghurt and cereal please) and I love proper vanilla ice cream so where could I go wrong with blueberry vanilla ice cream? Homemade ice cream has to be made with lots of egg yolks in a custard base for it to have that true Italian taste – to add in the blueberry element I merely added puréed blueberries, which I’d softened with a little sugar over a low heart, to the standard vanilla custard. To make it more luxurious I would put a vanilla pod in with the milk/cream whilst it heats and then scrape out the seeds into the mix when the custard has thickened. At the moment there are literally carpets of wild cyclamen growing in the garden which I thought looked pretty against the purple/grey colour of the ice cream. N.B. I don't believe that these are edible though!

Blueberry and Vanilla Ice Cream

• Put 300g blueberries into a small saucepan with 100g caster sugar and leave to stew over a gentle heat until soft. Leave to cool slightly then purée.
• Meanwhile, make the custard base by heating 250ml cream, 250ml milk and a teaspoon of vanilla extract in a heavy based saucepan until it reaches boiling point. Take off the heat.
• Whisk 4 egg yolks and 100g caster sugar for 5 mins until pale and thickened. Whisk in a slurp of the milk/cream and then transfer the egg mixture to the milk/cream mixture and place over a medium heat, stirring all the while (to prevent curdling).
• Continue stirring until the mixture thickens. Take off the heat and mix in the blueberry purée. Leave to cool.
• Churn in an ice cream machine and then transfer to a small contain and freeze until solid.