Blackberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

I threw this ice cream together the other day, and it is a huge hit at my house.  It has a wonderful cream cheese flavor with swirls of blackberry pie filling and chunks of cheesecake throughout. 

Blackberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

4 cups half and half or whipping cream
1 cup granulated sugar, divided
pinch of salt
8 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 can (21 ounces) blackberry pie filling
6 ounces (about 1 cup) cheesecake, chopped

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, whisk together the half and half, 1/2 cup sugar, and salt.  Heat until mixture comes to a simmer.

In a large bowl, whisk together the remaining 1/2 cup sugar, cream cheese, and eggs.  Once the half and half mixture is simmering, slowly pour about 1/2 of it into the cream cheese mixture, whisking constantly.  Return the combined mixture to the saucepan, and continue heating over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens.  Do not boil, or the eggs will scramble (and no one wants scrambled egg ice cream!).  

Remove the mixture from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.  Let cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled.

Pour the ice cream mixture into your ice cream freezer and process according to manufacturer's directions.  Once the ice cream has finished churning, spoon into a large bowl.  Add the blackberry pie filling and cheesecake pieces, and fold in 3 to 4 times (this will leave ribbons of pie filling).  Transfer to a freezer container and store in the freezer. Makes about 8 cups.

Enjoy!  -Cardamommy