Freaking Good Home Made Blackberry Ice Cream & Stehly Organic Farms Story
Blackberry Ice Cream Recipe
Know the difference between an average blackberry and a Stehly Organic Farms blackberry? Amazement. Pure eye-rolling amazement. As if Mother Nature herself reached down and handed you a blackberry and said, “Here. This is what a blackberry should be.” Plump. They have a deep, round sweetness that is counterbalanced perfectly by the classic blackberry tang. But just a subtle tang, not enough to overstay its welcome and overshadow the flavor of the berry.
We were first introduced to Stehly Farms when on assignment for Whole Foods. They are one of the local farms which the southern California Whole Foods carry. They are proud (and rightfully so) of their local farmers and are bringing attention to these amazing people behind the scenes.
In our early morning exploration of their farm, Noel (one of the two brothers owning and operating the farm) drove us about where ever we wanted to see and photograph. You can imagine all the garden geek talk going on in that truck. Not that we like amazing citrus, avocado, or berries. We’re only marginally obsessed after all.
At one point he mentions that he thinks the blackberries may just be starting to ripen. “Blackberries?”, we perk.
photographing the cute Stehly children
Blackberry Vines Galore
We drove over to the vines and begin to stroll amongst the bees. So many flowers and soon to be fruit. Then we saw it. A hint of black. Then a little more. Finally a cluster with a few fully ripe berries.
We finger limbo-ed through the vines and their thorns and gently plucked the ripe berries. Slightly warmed from the sun, it was a moment of pure bliss as we ate those first blackberries. We continued our search and scavenged up another 20 or so berries to photograph. Although I’m positive everyone was snacking a couple for every one which was put in the shoot basket, nobody mentioned a word of their secret finds. Sneakies.
As Noel was fawning over his berries, he mentioned how they love to make blackberry ice cream from their pickings. “We are going to have to do that” I thought to myself. That sounded heavenly good. Especially now knowing how extraordinary his berries were.
A few weeks later we stopped in the local Whole Foods to grab some produce for another client’s shoot. We spied the Stehly Farms blackberries. After picking up several containers, visions of making blackberry ice cream flooded my head.
We popped open one of the containers on the way home and started snacking on the blackberries. Somehow the container emptied in the 10 minute drive home. And then the next disappeared, and it would have been a waste to make such a small batch of ice cream with the remaining one basket, so we ate it.
No ice cream for us.
The next few weeks were crazy busy preparing for an aikido test and our trip to Boston where we were speaking at the International Conference on Food Styling and Photography. Since we were going to be in Boston for almost a week, we kept grocery shopping to a minimum. So… no ice cream for us.
We got home from Boston this past Tuesday. Wednesday, pre-dawn A.M., we were heading down to Encinitas to photograph the grand opening of a brand spanking new Whole Foods. Know the first thing we saw when walking through their front doors? That’s right! A huge display filled with the Stehly Organic Farms blackberries. And they were on sale for the grand opening! Hell yeah!
This time we got enough to eat and enough to make ice cream. After the batch was done, and all Diane could say between spoons, “This is freaking good ice cream.”
-Todd
The Stehly Organic Farms Family: The shot list for this shoot was to capture the farm, details and most importantly the Stehly family story. The latter shots were our favorite.
fresh blackberries from the organic farm …. straight to the beauty shot
detail of the beauty shot, highlight the immediately fresh farm to table
the youngest Stehly & the most fearless
The Stehly brothers & their family nestled in their groves
This story and recipe was originally published in 2011 and re-published in 2019 with updated photos.
Blackberry Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Milk (375ml) we prefer whole milk
- 1 1/2 cups Sugar (300g)
- 4 large Egg Yolks
- 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract (5ml)
- 1 1/2 cups Heavy Whipping Cream (375ml)
- 2 cups pureed Blackberries * see head note (480ml) (approx. 4 - 6 oz baskets of berries)
- 1 Tablespoon fresh Lemon Juice (15ml)
Equipment
Instructions
- Combine the milk and sugar in a saucepan and gently warm to just less than scalding.
- Whisk egg yolks and vanilla extract in a medium bowl. Slowly pour the warm milk into the eggs, whisking constantly. Next pour the egg/milk mix back into the saucepan.
- Heat the milk/egg mix over medium heat, stirring constantly, until it coats the back of a spoon.
- Combine the blackberry puree and lemon juice in a medium bowl. Cover with a strainer, and pour the milk/egg mixture into the blackberry mixture through the strainer to catch any chunky egg bits. Stir in the heavy cream.
- Stir until cool over an ice bath. Cover and thoroughly chill in the refrigerator (at least a couple hours.)
- Churn in your ice cream maker according to manufacturer's directions (usually about 15 minutes but times will vary depending on ice cream maker).
Nutrition Information per Serving
I just picked up some Stehly blackberries from Whole Foods yesterday. They are huge and they are divine. I often take ice cream recipes and make frozen pops with them. I think I’ll try that with this one. Thanks!
Fantastic!
Beautiful post!! How exciting to be able to experience and photograph life on a working farm! The beauty of your pictures made me feel like I was there. Awesome!! Thank you!
Those blackberries sound as though they would be best enjoyed straight from the bush. But really, how can you resist making ice cream out of them? The picture of the flying Stehly child is so precious. I hadn’t heard about that conference in Boston. I’ll have to check that out for next year.
I love your shots of the raspberrries and blackberries but I think I love the shots of the family more. 🙂 The one with the dad and son in the air, makes me think of my dad!
great story and photo! Looking forward to seeing you this week!
I Love everything about this. Happy 4th of July!
What a great summer recipe. The story makes it sound even more delicious!
The color of that ice cream is gorgeous. What a happy post!
Looks absolutely delicious! I wish we had fresh blackberries here in Florida.
Mmm, that’s beautiful 🙂 I love blackberries and can’t wait to get my hands on some fresh ones. I love how red/pink your ice cream is. Gorgeous!
I was wondering why you picked some green berries, but I’m assuming it was just for the aesthetic appeal in the photographs, right?
P.S. I’m totally jealous. In my area, we’ve probably got another good month before the blackberries are ready.
Correct. Plus to show the full lifespan of the blackberries. They are so beautiful in every stage, it is a shame not to recognize each stage.
As I’m reading your post, I’m thinking to myself (of course), I’d love to try one of these blackberries. Then I thought a moment longer and remembered, “Didn’t I just buy some blackberries at Whole Foods yesterday?” I just grabbed the container – Stehly Farms! So lovely to have a story to go along with enjoying these berries. I have to agree, they are terrific!
Ack! These are the most beautiful photos I think you guys have ever posted on your blog. I LOVE blackberries and raspberries. I need to mail order some plants for next years garden!
The ice cream recipe looks delish and the photography is just gorgeous. The delicate raspberries are just popping off the page and make me want to go eat some raspberries & blackberries.
And the pics of the happy family, their kids, it all looks so lovely. Great job capturing it all you two!
🙂
blackberries and ice cream – that’s just sunshine on a spoon. happy 4th of july guys!