Mixed Berry Ice Cream

I don't know about where you live, but here in D.C. it has been feeling decidedly like summer.  Today it was over 90 degrees out!  I have been wearing skirts and dresses non-stop, and the other day I got the urge to make some ice cream.  I like to keep bags of frozen berries in the fridge as they are great for whipping up a last minute cobbler, pie, or sorbet, and I had been wanting to try making a berry ice cream.  Most of the times I have made ice cream I have gone all-out and made a custard but this time I kept it simple and made it "Philadelphia Style" which just means I used cream (or half-and-half, in this case) straight, with no custard.  As a result, this lands somewhere in between a rich ice cream and a light sherbet - deliciously fruity with a hint of creaminess.  This recipe is pretty low fuss, the only somewhat time consuming part is straining out the seeds, but it makes the texture of the ice cream much nicer so it is definitely worth it.

Mixed Berry Ice Cream - Philadelphia Style
Inspired by a few recipes in The Ultimate Ice Cream Book

• 2 cups half and half (or if you wanted it to be more like sherbet, you could probably use milk)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 pound frozen mixed berries - I used a mixture of blackberries, blueberries, raspberries and strawberries, but really any berry mix should be fine

Take the berries out of the freezer and put them in blender to begin to defrost.  Put the half and half and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat and stir until sugar is mostly dissolved, not letting the half and half boil (it should be warm but not too hot at this point).  Pour the warm half and half over the berries in the blender and puree thoroughly.  Strain the puree through a fine strainer to get out the seeds.  The mixture should still be somewhat cool, but if it is not, refrigerate until cool, then freeze in your ice cream maker according to the instructions.  Enjoy!