I love ice cream, and really enjoy making it rather than buying commercially prepared, don’t get me wrong I buy ice cream often but when I have the time and ingredients I really love home made. This idea came to me because I had some things I needed to use before they spoiled. I had some buttermilk I needed to use right away and plum juniper berry syrup left over from the Marx Food cocktail contest. I thought that the tangy buttermilk custard would go nicely with the sweet/tart plum syrup. It really did go well together and the resulting ice cream is delicious. I took the plum syrup and reduced it by about 1/4 so it was more of a loose jam consistency and would make a nice swirl in the ice cream. This tastes like cheesecake ice cream, it’s creamy and a little tangy and the plum swirl is subtly flavored with the juniper berries. If you have never had buttermilk ice cream I recommend you give it a try, its really good.
The Custard:
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup whole milk
1 cup full fat buttermilk
1/2 cup sugar
5 egg yolks
1 tbs clear corn syrup.
In heavy non reactive saucepan heat cream, milk and buttermilk to scalding. Beat egg yolks and sugar with a whisk or electric mixer until light in color and thick. Slowly add some of the hot milk to the egg yolk mixture whisking constantly. Whisk to combine and add to the pan with the hot milk whisking constantly. Heat over med/hi heat until it becomes thick (165-170 degrees) and coats the back of the spoon, to test it swipe finger making a line, if it’s done the line will remain intact.NOTE: if you don’t have or cannot find full fat buttermilk use the low fat, omit the whole milk and increase heavy cream to 2 cups.
Pour into heat proof container, cover with plastic directly onto the custard. Let cool at room temperature then refrigerate overnight or until it reaches 40 degrees. You can also prepare a ice bath, pour the custard into a zip lock bag, seal it well and immerse in the ice cold bath until it’s cooled. Then refrigerate or use right away
Plum Juniper berry syrup:
2 1/2 cups ripe plums (I used methley plums they have beautiful dark almost black skin and bright red flesh) quartered with skin left on (I used 5 plums.
1/2 cup sugar
4 whole juniper berries
1/2 cup water
Place everything in saucepan, bring to a boil then reduce heat to med and let cook until thick and plums are broken down and it’s reduced by approximately 1/4 it takes about 15 minutes. Strain into a jar with a lid, pressing the plums leaving only the pulp and skin, let come to room temperature then refrigerate until ready to use. It’s pretty thick and when it’s cooled its like the consistency of loose jam.
Before you pour custard into the ice cream maker add the tbs of corn syrup to the custard, pour into ice cream maker following manufacturers instruction. When it’s ready it will be the consistency of soft serve ice cream. Put half of the custard into a freezer container, drizzle some of the syrup over the ice cream (I used 1/4 cup) and using a bamboo skewer or butter knife, swirl into the ice cream. Put the other half of the ice cream on top of it and swirl more syrup. Freeze until it is a scoopable consistency.
apuginthekitchen 
That swirl takes an insanely delicious ice cream to another level 🙂
Beautifully done!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru h
Thank you so much, lovin all your guest posts but am looking forward to the return of CCU!!
This looks and sounds delightful! What a good combination you came up with!
Thanks so much, love the combination, the buttermilk gives a nice tangy flavor and goes so well with the plums.
Mmmmmm!
Thank you, sugarless version for you on the agenda
When I read that this tastes like cheesecake; I immediately loved it! Looks scrumptious and light!
It’s great and tastes like cheesecake which I love!! Thank you so much.
Sounds & looks heavenly – love it! It’ll be good with choc chips too, no?
Thank you so much Azita, yes chocolate chips would be fantastic. Never thought to add them!!
Reblogged this on Fetish for Ice-Cream.
This looks so heavenly, Suzanne! It suddenly became hot here in Italy, again, so gelato/ice cream/sorbets are really hitting the spot!!
This looks so good. I did make a strawberry cheesecake for the hubs and he liked it. I would love to try this one though. I too, enjoy the taste of buttermilk, that little tang is just the right pop!
Thank you Suzie, I too really love buttermilk not overpowering, just enough to give it a nice tangy taste.
Wow! This sounds amazing! I’ve never had buttermilk ice cream before but this definitely makes me want to try it. I adore buttermilk anything so I’m sure this would be no exception.
Thank you so much, me too, love buttermilk especially full fat kind. So tangy rich and delicious! Thank you again.
That looks amazing! I just got a brand new ice cream maker…a must make! 🙂
Thank you so much, it is really good, and if you make it let me know what you think!!
The swirl makes the ice cream look so pretty and even more delicious! I have an ice cream machine at home… but so lazy to bring it out… haha I guess it’s time to make some ice cream! 😉
I love homemade ice cream, but have to admit I am lazy sometimes. Dragging out the machine, dusting it off but it’s so worth it in the end. Thank you so much.
You sold me with “cheesecake ice cream” – wow! I haven’t tried buttermilk in ice cream yet and look forward to it.
Thanks so much, it does taste like cheesecake, minus the graham cracker crust but it really is delicious. I just love buttermilk.
Random post fun! I simply like buttermilk. I even drink it. 🙂
Random for sure but it’s a delicious ice cream I had forgotten about. I love buttermilk, drink it also!! Thanks for dredging up this recipe.