Huckleberry Ice Cream Recipe

Summer is the perfect time for ice cream and we live where the wild huckleberries grow abuntantly in the summer. Combine them both and you have this perfect huckleberry ice cream recipe!

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Picking Huckleberries

Last week we took two trips up the mountain behind our home to pick these delectable little wild berries! It is a 6 mile drive up a naroow dusty logging road to reach our favorite picking place.

The huckleberries are about a month earlier this year and it is a really good year! The berries are quite large and very abundant. We did quite well, ending up with a bit more than 3 gallons altogether.

What are Huckleberries?

Huckleberries are related to blueberries and share many similarities. They’re usually smaller than blueberries and range in color from red to blue and even black.

Huckleberry plants all belong to the Ericaceae family, a family of flowering plants all of which bear small berries. Blueberries are also in the same family, but they’re not the same. Huckleberry can refer to plants that grow in two genera: Gaylussacia and Vaccinium. Blueberries only belong to the Vaccinium genus.

The flavor depends on their color. Red huckleberries tend to be more tart, while darker purple, blue, and black berries are sweeter in flavor. They have a more unique and intense flavor than a blueberry.

What Can Huckleberries Be Used For?

Huckleberries can be used for delicious, pies, jams and syrups. They also add wonderful flavor to Lemonade or Water Kefir. But one of my favorite ways to use huckleberries is ice cream!

They are delicious to eat freash on top of vanilla ice cream or made into huckleberry ice cream! Today I am going to share my homemade huckleberry ice cream recipe.

Homemade Huckleberry Ice Cream Recipe

Ice cream is actually very easy to make at home! And it is incredible good! In general it contains only a few simple ingredients as the base and any flavor can be made from there.

Ingredients For Ice Cream

Milk, cream, and some kind of sugar are the basic ingredients. Some ice cream recipes are a bit more complicated and include eggs or egg yolks. This gives it a more custardy consistency.

For simplicity I usually stick with the basic milk, cream, sugar recipe. This huckleberry ice cream recipe only contains 5 ingredients total!

• milk
• cream
• sugar
• fresh or frozen huckleberries
• vanilla extract

Supplies for Making Ice Cream

You do need some kind of ice cream maker in order to easily make ice cream. There are methods for making it without a special machine, however if you are going to make ice cream very often it is worth having an ice cream maker.

I love my Cuisinart 2 quart ice cream maker! I have had mine for more than 10 years and it is so simple to use. The only drawback is that the insulated bowl takes up space in my freezer and I only have a small freezer. But I make it work by juggling things around.

There are also the classic style ice cream makers that use rock salt and ice. This is what I had growing up and they are so fun. These are often larger and are great for making enough ice cream for a large group! Interestingly there is an old one of these at the old homestead we recently bought. I haven’t had a chance to clean it up and see if it works yet!

Making the Huckleberry Ice Cream Recipe

To make this recipe start with placing the huckleberries, sugar, and a bit of water in a small pan and heat gently untill the juices run and the sugar is melted.

Split into 2 quart jars and chill.

Mix milk, cream and vanilla in a large pyrex measuring cup or a bowl. Add this mixture evenly to the chilled jars of berries and mix well.

You can place in the ice cream maker immediately or store in the fridge for later. I tend to make my mix up the day before or in the morning then make the ice cream close to when we want to eat it.freeze the ice cream in your machine according to the directions that came with it.

That’s it! You can enjoy right away or store in the freezer to eat later. Homemade ice cream often starts out fairly soft and gets more solid in the freezer.

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