How to Make Crunch Berry Ice Cream

About a year ago, I made a Summer Bucket List. One of the items I was most excited about was inventing a new ice cream flavor. In this particular case, excitement didn’t translate into action; summer came and went and the world went without a new ice cream flavor. (Sorry, World.)

To be fair, I did come up with an idea for a flavor last summer, I just never got around to trying it. Until now. So, without further ado, I give you Crunch Berry Ice Cream!

You may be thinking, “Big deal. You threw some cereal into some vanilla ice cream — how groundbreaking.” But alas, I took this task seriously and endeavored to push things to another level. And while I concede that someone, somewhere, may have already invented this particular flavor, it was new to me, and I’m happy to share my way of doing it.

This recipe is tailored to my off-the-shelf Cuisinart ice cream maker, which can make 1.5 quarts of ice cram at a time. Your machine may require some adjustments and results may vary.

First, pour 1 cup of milk and 2 cups of heavy whipping cream into a bowl.

The next step is the most crucial. It is the step that elevates this recipe beyond just throwing a bunch of crap in at the end and calling it a day. No friends, this step is my attempt is to infuse every bite of ice cream with the flavor of Cap’n Crunch and his delicious Crunch Berries. Or, more specifically, what the milk tastes like when you’re done eating the cereal on Saturday morning.

To do this, pour a bunch of Crunch Berries cereal into the bowl. We’ll call it two cups.

While your impulse may be to grab a giant spoon and dive in, resist! The goal is to infuse that milk and cream with the Crunch Berry goodness, but I discovered that the heaviness of heavy whipping cream works against us. The cereal just sort of sits on the top, so you’ll need to stir it around in order to get good coverage, like so:

Then put the bowl in the fridge for awhile, allowing the cereal to get good and soggy.

After at least two hours, pull out the bowl and pour the mixture through a big strainer, reserving the milk and cream while discarding the cereal. All I wanted at this point was flavor and the cool little flecks of color, not a soggy mess infiltrating my ice cream.

Don’t worry, Cap’n. The crunch comes later.

A few notes here. My bowl was in the fridge for two hours. In future versions of this recipe, I might experiment with leaving it in the fridge even longer, to see if I can coax even more flavor into the milk and cream.

Next, in a separate large bowl, whisk two large eggs like crazy until they are light and fluffy. Then slowly whisk in 3/4 cup of sugar.

Oh, and I forgot to mention that if you can secure a lovely assistant for this step, you totally should.

Once the sugar is good an incorporated with the eggs, you can add your Crunch Berry-infused milk and cream, two teaspoons of vanilla extract, and give it a good mixing. A hand mixer or a whisk works well.

Then pour your base into an ice cream maker and just hang out for a while. Consult your ice cream maker for suggested times.

Our version of hanging out got a little crazy…

Ok, when you’re ice cream is about two minutes from being done, you get to add a cup of dry cereal.

As soon as it’s incorporated uniformly into the ice cream, turn off the machine and scoop everything into a freezer-safe container. Although certainly edible at this point, for best results I recommend letting it firm up in the freezer for several hours. The quicker you make the transfer, the better chance your Crunch Berries will stay crunchy!

All in all, I was happy with the result. The flavor is subtle but unmistakeable, the dry cereal adds a nice texture, and although you can’t see them well in this photo, the little colored flecks add a touch of Saturday morning whimsy. Even Kim, who is not a giant Crunch Berries fan, got a little bit addicted. I recommend giving it a try, and let us know if you come up with any tips for improving it!

Crunch Berry Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 3 cups Cap’n Crunch’s Crunch Berries cereal
• 1 cup milk
• 2 cups heavy whipping cream
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. 1) Pour milk and cream into a bowl. Add 2 cups cereal. Stir to coat.
2. 2) Place the bowl in the fridge for 2-4 hours.
3. 3) Remove bowl from fridge. Whisk two eggs in a mixing bowl for two minutes or until light and fluffy.
4. 4) Whisk in the sugar, a little at a time, until completely blended.
5. 5) Pour the milk and cream through a strainer into the mixing bowl with the eggs and sugar. Discard the soggy cereal.
6. 6) Add two teaspoons of vanilla and whisk to blend.
7. 7) Pour the contents into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions.
8. 8) When the ice cream is finished, transfer it to a freezer safe bowl until hardened, 2-3 hours.