Black Raspberry Ice Cream

one of America's most distinctive regional ice creams: the deep purple juice of the native Oregon blackcap churned into a rich egg custard, its dark, winey fruit unlike any red raspberry

Origin: Oregon and the Pacific Northwest of the United States

From the journey of Raspberry.

The black raspberry, Rubus occidentalis, the native 'blackcap' of North America, is a fruit the Old World never really took up, and it gives one of the most distinctive regional ice creams in the United States. Grown in Oregon above all for its intense flavour and its deep purple juice, the black raspberry has a drier, darker, faintly winey character quite unlike the bright tartness of the red raspberry, and it makes an ice cream of remarkable depth and a striking violet-purple colour. Black raspberry ice cream is a taste of high summer across the Pacific Northwest and much of the American Midwest and Northeast, where the blackcap grows, and in some regions (parts of Ohio and the Midwest especially) 'black raspberry' is one of the classic ice-cream-parlour flavours, sometimes studded with chocolate chips as the beloved 'black raspberry chip'. This version is a proper custard ice cream, a French-style base of egg yolks, cream, and milk enriched and coloured with a sieved black raspberry purée, churned to a smooth, rich, intensely fruity ice. It is the ice cream that best captures the character of America's own raspberry.

Ingredients

Purée

400 g black raspberries (or red raspberries)
100 g caster sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice

Custard

300 ml whole milk
300 ml double cream
5 egg yolks
120 g caster sugar
1 pinch fine salt

Method

Blitz the black raspberries with the 100 g sugar and the lemon juice, then pass through a fine sieve to remove the seeds. Chill the smooth purée.
Make the custard: heat the milk and cream until steaming. Whisk the egg yolks with the 120 g sugar and salt until pale, pour the hot cream over whisking, then return to the pan and cook over a low heat, stirring constantly, until it thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon (about 80°C). Do not let it boil.
Strain the custard into a bowl, then stir in the chilled black raspberry purée. Cover and chill thoroughly, for at least 4 hours or overnight, until very cold.
Churn the cold base in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions, until thick and softly frozen.
Transfer to a lidded container and freeze for at least 2 hours to firm up before serving. Let it soften for a few minutes at room temperature before scooping.

Notes

Black raspberries give both the characteristic dark, winey flavour and the dramatic violet-purple colour; if you can find only red raspberries, the ice cream is still delicious but paler and brighter in flavour. A splash of framboise or Chambord in the chilled base deepens the raspberry flavour and helps keep the ice cream scoopable. For a quicker no-churn version, fold the sieved purée into softly whipped cream sweetened with condensed milk and freeze. The lemon juice is important: it lifts the flavour and stops the fruit tasting flat.

The Gastrographer

Name: Black Raspberry Ice Cream
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 45 min
Yield: 8
Cuisine: Oregon and the Pacific Northwest of the United States
Ingredients: 400 g black raspberries (or red raspberries); 100 g caster sugar; 1 tbsp lemon juice; 300 ml whole milk; 300 ml double cream; 5 egg yolks; 120 g caster sugar; 1 pinch fine salt

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Ingredient originTrade or transit route

Became a culinary stapleColonial / trade control