This homemade blackberry ice cream is so delicious that it will soon become a favorite summer treat! The lemon gives it a burst of freshness, and the buttermilk adds a nice zing that makes it the perfect way to cool off.

A Delicious Summer Recipe to Slow Down and Enjoy
Y’all. This summer has been busier than any other that I can remember. Between work, growing my garden and my doTERRA business, raising a hellacious threenager, and ya know, attempting to do life in general, I’ve been just a tad bit overwhelmed.
There are friends I’ve forgotten to text back (sorry, in case you hadn’t yet realized, I’m really not a good friend), recipes I haven’t tried, cucumbers that have shriveled on the counter before I could get my life together enough to make them into something all homestead-y and pinterst-worthy, parenting books that probably won’t be read until I send my child off to college (at which point they will serve no purpose other than making me look back and think I did it all wrong), and this blog.
This poor, lonely, neglected little blog. My cherished corner of the web that has been put on the back burner. Heck, I’m just glad something’s been put on the burner because chances are it’s not the dinner I should be cooking.
Anyway, I tell you all of that to tell you this: I had all intentions of posting this ice cream recipe right after I made it for my Mama’s birthday…..in June.
What. A. Slacker.
My hope is that it’s so darn tasty that you’ll forgive my appalling lack of summer blogging. Maybe all of my admissions will even make you feel better about yourself. The next time you think you’re falling short, just think of the lady who took 2.5 months to write down a flipping ice cream recipe. You’re looking better and better already, my friend.
Enough blabbering folks, let’s get to the good stuff!
How to Make Homemade Blackberry Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream
Ingredients
-1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries (You can use frozen if they aren’t in season)
-2/3 cup organic sugar, divided
-2 tablespoons water
-1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
-zest of one lemon
-8 drops of lemon essential oil can be substituted for the lemon juice and zest
(Not every oil can be ingested! Contact me to learn about the ONLY essential oils I use!)
-1 cup half and half
-5 egg yolks
-1 cup buttermilk, chilled in the freezer for at least 20 minutes
-1 teaspoon vanilla extract (see my recipe for delicious homemade vanilla extract here)
Directions
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer the berries, water, and half of the sugar, breaking up berries as they cook down (five-ish minutes).

- Puree this syrupy goodness in a blender, adding lemon juice & zest (or lemon essential oil), then strain through a sieve into a small bowl to remove all of those pesky seeds, then set aside.

- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale yellow.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer the half and half until very hot, but not boiling.
- Slowly add the hot half and half to the egg and sugar mixture, whisking as you go, so as not to cook the eggs…nobody wants scrambled egg ice cream.
- Return this mixture to the saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly across the bottom of the pan, until thick and custardy, coating the back of a spoon, and registering 170° on an instant-read thermometer. Do not allow it to curdle….because nobody wants cheese ice cream either.
- Strain this through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, pushing through any chunks that have formed. Stir in chilled buttermilk, vanilla, and berry mixture.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.

If you like harder ice cream (which I do), freeze your final product for at least 2 hours. If you’re but a mere mortal, like me, and can’t seem to plan that far ahead, so that the ice cream is juuuust barely finished by the time everyone cleans their dinner plates and begins looking at you expectantly, you can serve as-is for a softer consistency.
I garnished it with fresh blackberries, and everyone loved it so much that the house was silent….for about 8 seconds. It was nice while it lasted (the ice cream and the silence).
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Printable Recipe for Blackberry Lemon Buttermilk Ice Cream

Homemade Blackberry Ice Cream with Lemon and Buttermilk
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups fresh blackberries (You can use frozen if they aren't in season)
- -2/3 cup organic sugar, divided
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
- zest of one lemon - 8 drops of lemon essential oil can be substituted for the lemon juice and zest
- (Not every oil can be ingested! Contact me to learn about the ONLY essential oils I use!)
- 1 cup half and half
- 5 egg yolks
- 1 cup buttermilk, chilled in the freezer for at least 20 minutes
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (see my recipe for delicious homemade vanilla extract here)
Instructions
- In a small saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer the berries, water, and half of the sugar, breaking up berries as they cook down (five-ish minutes).
- Puree this syrupy goodness in a blender, adding lemon juice & zest (or lemon essential oil), then strain through a sieve into a small bowl to remove all of those pesky seeds, then set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg yolks with the remaining sugar until pale yellow.
- In a medium saucepan over medium-low heat, simmer the half and half until very hot, but not boiling.
- Slowly add the hot half and half to the egg and sugar mixture, whisking as you go, so as not to cook the eggs...nobody wants scrambled egg ice cream.
- Return this mixture to the saucepan and warm over low heat, stirring constantly across the bottom of the pan, until thick and custardy, coating the back of a spoon, and registering 170° on an instant-read thermometer. Do not allow it to curdle....because nobody wants cheese ice cream either.
- Strain this through a fine sieve into a metal bowl, pushing through any chunks that have formed. Stir in chilled buttermilk, vanilla, and berry mixture.
- Chill for at least 30 minutes.
- Process in ice cream maker according to manufacturer's instructions.
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