Over the course of the last week I've been blogging every couple of days about the five course spread I made for some friends on January 31.  I've previously blogged courses one through three.  I neglected to photograph the fourth course, which was lamb rib chops on two purees—acorn squash and red potato—with sautéed Brussels sprout leaves and beet and horseradish "confetti," which I made by grating fresh horseradish and beets and then dehydrating it in the oven at 170°F.  The course both tasted and looked great, so I sort-of wished I'd photographed it . . . but whatever.

The fifth and final course of the meal was this blackberry ice cream on coffee-cocoa "soil" with Chambord cream.  I borrowed the coffee-cocoa "soil" recipe from David Barzelay over at Eat Foo who, in turn, adapted it from a Sam Mason recipe.  I made the Chambord cream by adding some Chambord black raspberry liquor to some heavy cream as I whipped it.  And I made the blackberry ice cream by adapting a recipe I made last summer to accommodate the fact that I only had two cups of blackberries.  I bought the blackberries at the Dupont farmers market from an ingenious farmer/vendor who froze some of last summer's harvest to provide a taste of summer in the dead of winter.  I thought this course worked really well.  The saltiness of the soil is a pleasant surprise and the black raspberry liquor in the paired nicely with the ice cream.  Here's the ice cream recipe:

• 2 cups blackberries*
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 5 egg yolks
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk

1. Beat the sugar and egg yolks together until thick and pale yellow. Then beat the milk into the eggs and sugar.
2. Put the sugar / egg / milk mixture into a small saucepan and place over low heat.  Stir continuously until the custard thickens slightly (around 160°F) and just coats the back of a spoon. Beware, the eggs will scramble at around 168°F!
3. Immediately remove the custard from the heat when it reaches 160 and transfer it to a bowl, then cover it and refrigerate until cool (40°F).
4. While the custard is chilling, puree the blackberries in a food processor, then strain to remove the seeds and other solid matter.  I use a wire mesh strainer like this one, stirring and pushing the puree through with a rubber spatula.  Chill until ready to use. 
5. Once the custard is chilled (2-3 hours in the refrigerator), whip the cream to soft peaks, then fold the cream into the chilled custard and, finally, fold the blackberry puree into the mixture.
6. Follow the instructions for your ice cream machine from this point forward, freezing the custard / cream / berry mixture in the machine, then giving it some time in your freezer to harden a bit more.