Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

中文菜谱： 蓝莓奶酪冰激凌

Houston has been known for its long and hot and humid summer…  Well, let’s look at the bright side.  The ice cream season is really long too! O(∩_∩)O~

I love making ice cream from scratch at home.  Most people might assume it is a long, complicate and labor intensive process.  Guess what?  It is not always true! 

Allow me to introduce this blueberry cheesecake ice cream, which is super easy and simple to make.  it is so good that you won’t miss the store bought version once you have tried it.

I use homemade blueberry jam made with fresh blueberries here.  You can always substitute with the ones sold in grocery stores to save some time. 

When blueberry is in season, I buy pounds of blueberries.  Wash and drain them well.  Add to a large pot, along with brown sugar to taste.  Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice.  Cook over medium heat until it boils.  And then reduce the heat to medium low.  Stir from time to time to prevent burning at the bottom. 

Remove from heat when blueberries are cooked down and thicken.

Ingredients：

1package of cream cheese, 8 oz/ 226g
280 g condensed milk/ 10 oz
1 cup heavy cream
3/4 cup whole milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
blueberry jam 

Directions：

Freeze ice cream container for at least 24 hours.

Take cream cheese out of fridge and leave it at room temperature for about 40 minutes or until it softens. 

Add cream cheese to a medium bowl.  Beat with electric whisker at low speed while gradually adding sweetened condensed milk. 

Add heavy cream, milk and vanilla.  Whisk until everything is well combined and smooth.

Refrigerate the custard for 2 to 4 hours before adding to ice cream machine.

Churn the custard in ice cream machine for 25 minutes.  It comes out as soft-served ice cream.  

Spoon the cheese ice cream to an ice cream container.  Add a couple ladles of blue berry jam in between and swirl with a spoon.

Cover with lid.  Freeze for another 4 to 6 hours.

It is very cheesy and creamy, sweet but not too sweet.  Blueberry jam adds a very nice touch of flavor to the ice cream.

Every scoop of blueberry cheesecake ice cream has its unique pattern O(∩_∩)O~

Brenham Wildflowers and Blue Bell Ice Cream Store

中文版： 春天到Brenham看野花，吃冰激凌去

The most exciting events in spring for us are wildflower touring and crawfish festivals.  We make plans to going to Brenham and Austin to see wildflowers every year.  The plans don’t always get carried out because the wildflowers’ peak time is very short.  Besides, wildflowers are affected by many other factors like temperature and rainfall. 

This year, we finally have a perfect wildflower tour to Brenham during bluebonnets peak time.  Hooray！

Bluebonnets are literally everywhere!  You can spot them along the highways, country roads, parks, farms…you name it.

The very first stop we make in Brenham is of course the Blue Bell ice cream store.

They are not open during weekends anymore.  There are no more factory tours either.  But the ice cream store is still there selling delicious ice cream for a very reasonable price.  

You can still peak through the glass from observation deck on the second floor.  No photos are allowed in that area.  To be honest, you don’t get to see much from observation deck.

A lot of people come here in large groups.  The parking lot is full of cars and buses.

The ice cream store is on the second floor, same as observation deck.

Look at the flavors they produce

There are flavors sold the store

Did I mention the price is very reasonable? O(∩_∩)O~

rocky road  and mocha almond fudge

moo-llenium crunch  and strawberry cheesecake

The ice creams here are a bit too sweet for us.  And I wish they could be creamier.

Peachy peach

It is surprisingly good.  There is an intense peach flavor, and very sweet and creamy with large peach pieces.

There is also a visitor center right next to the ice cream store where you can experience blue bell history.

I guess this is the oldest ice cream machine O(∩_∩)O~

It is peak time for bluebonnets.  You can spot them everywhere.

We drive up north to Independence

There is Antique Rose Emporium right on highway 50.  We stop by every time.

They sell all kinds of roses, plants, bushes and herbs here.

Old Baylor Park

The bluebonnets are not very good here this year.  But it is still a very nice picnic spot.

On our way back to Brenham, we come across a very large field of blue bonnets.  I am totally amazed by its beauty and colors.

Indian paintbrush

Not sure what these blue/purple white flowers are.  They are also very lovely.

Sun is coming down.  I take a few more photo shots and head back to Houston  O(∩_∩)O~