Frozen Berry Custard (no ice cream maker necessary)

Seeing as how it always feels like 109F outside (and sometimes is, what is up with that!) then this is the perfect time for frozen custard. Wait...you don't have an ice cream machine??? That's okay, me either :). I love ice cream but I adore frozen custard with its smooth, rich texture and flavor. There are several places I been that claim to have frozen custard and it tastes like ice cream to me but then there are places with frozen custard that dreams are made of...

Sadly, my ice cream maker was broken the last time we moved. Something about liquid leaking from an ice cream maker means it's frowned upon to use it. I can't really argue with that. Consequently I haven't been making frozen treats like ice cream for that reason. Silly me though because it's easy to make ice cream and custard without a machine. Although...it does take a little longer...but that's mostly inactive time between stirs. :) 

This cute little recipe only makes a little under two cups which serves two or three people depending on how much they like to eat. Who knows, it may only serve one :). I'm sure you could double the recipe, maybe even triple it if you were feeling a little crazy. But remember that means a longer freezing time unless you put it in two or three different dishes in the freezer (which as an afterthought wouldn't be that unmanageable). I'm rambling again, sorry about that. 

Now of course, you're probably going to look at the fact that this recipe uses egg yolks and say "what is she thinking, that's a crazy amount of yolks!" and she's telling me I can double it. Well, if you leave out one yolk because you only have two it will be okay, it will still be delicious. Also, if you double it and want to use 4 yolks and 1 whole egg, that will work to. Just remember the yolks help to add richness to it. The egg whites leftover will make a delicious egg white omelet, frittata, angel food cake (or cupcakes), or a meringue (or meringue cupcakes). See? Lots of uses! 

This dessert would be a fun treat for the fourth of July of course because it has bright red strawberries and blueberries. If you saw fit to throw in some tiny banana pieces, cut up peaches, or cut up plums (for example) I'm sure nobody would argue with you. Just make sure not to put in to much fruit or you won't really be able to taste the smooth texture of the custard because it will taken oven by the fruit. 

I also used a vanilla bean paste and not vanilla extract so that there were the lovely specks of vanilla bean throughout the custard which I love love love. You could always use a good quality vanilla extract to though. Vanilla is what is going to shine through flavor-wise and add to the richness of the custard. Also, don't leave out the Greek yogurt, it's there to add a bit of tart flavor to complement the berries. It won't be to tart for you, promise. It just adds a little something extra.  

On an entirely different note...remember the strawberry cordials I posted about a few days ago? I mentioned I had made blueberry ones also. Well, after six or seven days their fondant finally turned to liquid, want to see?

Do you see the blueberry in there? There are actually two. They had an awesome liquid cordial center but I couldn't really taste the blueberry flavor which I found to be disappointing. This why I'm not posting the recipe to make the blueberry ones. But they are pretty nice to look at though and I thought you may like to see :). This recipe was featured over on Trick or Treat Tuesday!

Berry Frozen Custard
Makes about 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:
- ¾ cup mixed berries
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 egg yolks
- 3 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (I used vanilla bean paste)
- ½ cup whipping cream
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons Greek yogurt

Directions:
1. Chop the berries and place them into a bowl. Sprinkle the berries with 1 tablespoon sugar, stir  and set aside.
2. Whisk the egg yolks with sugar and vanilla until pale in color, set aside.
3. In a saucepan combine whipping cream and milk, scald over medium high heat, then remove from heat. Add about ¼ cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture while whisking constantly. This will bring up the temperature of the eggs slightly. Then add the egg mixture into the remaining milk mixture in the saucepan.
4. Stir constantly over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens and coats the back of a wooden spoon. Pour the mixture through a fine sieve into an ungreased 8” x 8” baking dish. (Instead of a baking dish if you have an ice cream maker you could follow the manufacturer’s directions and use that).
 

5. Drain the remaining sugar liquid off of the berries and add the berries to the custard. Stir, then place the dish in the freezer for one hour. Remove from the freezer and stir to mix and break up any frozen clumps. Place back in the freezer for another hour. Remove from freezer and stir well to smooth the mixture. Place back in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir to blend and even the freezing process. Place back in the refrigerator for 30 minutes. Remove from freezer and stir, it should be frozen enough to serve immediately or place into a container to store in the freezer. 

Printable recipe

This is an original recipe

This recipe may be linked up to:

· Inside BruCrew Life - Trick or Treat Tuesday's

· Crazy For Crust - Crazy Sweet Tuesday’s
· Alli 'n Sons - Sweet Tooth Friday 
· DJ's Sugar Shack - Whatcha Whipped Up?

· Mrs. Fox's Sweets - Mrs. Fox's Sweet Party 

· Sweet as Sugar Cookies - Sweets for a Saturday 
· Mandy's Recipe Box - Totally Tasty Tuesday's

· A Pinch of Joy - Busy Monday Link Party 

· House of Hepworth's - Hookin up with HoH 

· Cups by Kim - Sweet & Simple Sunday  

· Couponing & Cooking - Mealtime Monday 

· What's Cooking, Love? - Showcase Your Talent Thursday 

· Bacon Time with the Hungry Hungry Hypo - Anything Goes Linky
· Chef in training - Tuesday Talent Show

· Dwell on Joy - Dwell on Friday 

· Six Sister's Stuff - Strut Your Stuff Saturday

· Something Swanky: Desserts & Designs - Sweet Treats Thursday 

· A Slice of Southern - Southern Sundays 

· Me and My Sweets - My Sweet Party