Blueberry, Creme Fraiche, Graham Cracker ice cream

Wow, that's a mouthful! And once you make this you will want mouthful after mouthful of this cool, sweet treat.  The last time I made ice cream, I had some trouble.  This time, I am proud to say, no problem man!  My friend Andrea has talked about creating a creme fraiche ice cream recipe for awhile, and when she dreamed one up, and then brought the finished product to work several weeks ago I was blown away.  It was so rich and creamy in flavor, but the sweet blueberry swirl cut through the richness and added some great texture, it was purely decadent.  Given its similarity to cheesecake in taste (for me) I knew I had to try this but add a graham cracker swirl to it.

Cast of Characters:

Blueberry Swirl
1 cup blueberries, frozen or fresh (I used fresh)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Creme Fraiche Ice Cream
1.5 cups whole milk, divided into 2 Tbsp, and remainder
2 Tbsp corn starch
2 oz. cream cheese, room temp
1/8 tsp sea salt
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp light corn syrup
1 cup creme fraiche


Graham Cracker Swirl
1 cup of crushed graham crackers
4 Tbsp of butter, melted
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Combine blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice in a small heavy-bottomed sauce pan, mixing well. 

2. Heat over medium-high heat for 20 minutes or until the sugar has dissolved and the blueberries have released their liquid. Remove from heat  (Note: this took me 10 minutes, I went 15 and ended up with a jam like substance (see above), still tasty just not juicy.)
3. Puree mixture with an immersion blender and allow to cool (Note: my "jam" didn't need to be blended.)
4. Strain mixture and chill. Save for use (Note: I skipped this step.)

mmm slurry

5. Mix corn starch with 2 Tbsp of milk in a small bowl to form a slurry. Set aside.
6. Whisk cream cheese and salt in a medium/large bowl until smooth. Set aside.
7. Fill a large bowl with ice and water. Set aside.

8. Combine the remaining milk with cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a 4-qt sauce pan. Bring to a roiling boil over medium-high heat. Boil for 4 minutes.
9. Remove from heat and whisk in corn starch slurry. Return to heat.
10. Bring mixture to a boil over medium-high heat and cook, stirring with a heat proof spatula until slightly thickened (about 1 minute). Remove from heat.
11. Gradually whisk the hot mixture into the cream cheese until smooth.
12. Add creme fraiche to mixture. Stir until completely incorporated.

13. Pour ice cream base into a 1 gallon Ziploc freezer bag and submerge in ice bath. Let stand, adding more ice as needed, until cold - about 30 minutes. 
14.  In the meantime, process your graham cracker crumbs and combine them with the sugar, melted butter and cinnamon. 
15.  Spread the crumb mixture on a baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown, approximately 10 minutes in my oven. Remove from oven and set aside.

16. Pour base into ice cream maker per manufacturer's instructions. Freeze until thick and creamy. Add blueberry mixture and half the graham cracker mixture at the very end of the freezing process to create a swirl (Note: my jam like substance did not swirl, but incorporated completely into the base, so I ended up with a blueberry colored ice cream.) 

17. Pack into a storage container, press a sheet of parchment paper directly against the surface and seal with an airtight lid. Freeze for at least 4 hours. 

18.  Enjoy with some additional graham cracker crumbs poured on top! A small serving goes a long way, but holy smokes this is a delicious summer dessert!