This black cherry buttermilk ice cream recipe has a surprising tang. It’s refreshing and delicious on a hot summer day and easy to make.
How was your weekend friends? I had to work all weekend, but that didn’t stop me from making and enjoying the black cherry buttermilk ice cream recipe! I hope you have a great week.
My recipe for peach swirl buttermilk ice cream is one of my favorites. It’s right up there with salted caramel ice cream and tiramisu ice cream. I love the buttermilk ice cream base because it’s tangy and refreshing in a really unexpected way. Cherries are in peak season right now and I just knew that black cherries would also go great with a buttermilk base. My hunch was correct and the recipe has exceeded my expectations. It is so, so good – perfectly sweet and rich while not being overwhelming. I recommend you don’t waste any time and try it for yourself immediately!
Thanks so much for reading A Side of Sweet! For more Sweet in your life, you can find me on Instagram, Pinterest, Bloglovin’, or Twitter, or subscribe to receive a weekly email with new posts (see sidebar).
PrintBlack Cherry Buttermilk Ice Cream
This black cherry buttermilk ice cream recipe has a surprising tang. It’s refreshing and delicious on a hot summer day and easy to make.
- Prep Time: 12 hours
- Cook Time: 20 minutes
- Total Time: 12 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 cups 1x
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Freezer
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 8 large egg yolks
- 1/4 cup honey
- 4 teaspoons vanilla
- 2 cups buttermilk
For the black cherry swirl:
- 3 cups (1/2 pound black cherries), pitted and quartered (this tool will be your best friend)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Prepare an ice bath by filling a large bowl with a handful of ice cubes and adding a few splashes of water. Set a slightly smaller bowl inside this bowl and place a sieve or strainer inside. Set aside.
- Heat the cream, sugar and salt over medium heat in a saucepan until it reaches a slight simmer and the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat.
- Whisk the egg yolks together in a medium mixing bowl. Temper the cream mixture by adding 1/4 cup of the warm cream mixture to the egg yolks, whisking the entire time. Add the remainder of the cream and whisk.
- Return mixture back to the medium saucepan over low heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until 170-175 degrees F and the mixture thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Pour the mixture through the sieve into the small bowl of your ice bath. Add the honey, vanilla, and buttermilk. Stir constantly until the mixture becomes room temperature.
- Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and transfer it to the fridge for at least 4 hours, until very cold.
- Prepare the cherries: Add the chopped cherries and sugar to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, until bubbling and cherries are soft. Set aside.
- Churn the ice cream mixture according to your ice cream maker’s instructions. Transfer the mixture to a freezer-safe container and freeze for about 30 minutes to an hour to help set. Remove from freezer and stir all or part of the cherries. I only added the cherries themselves and reserved the sauce part of the cherry mixture to drizzle on top, but you can also add it directly to the buttermilk ice cream base. Freeze until firm, at least 8 hours. Drizzle with remaining cherry sauce before serving (optional).
Wow Kelly, that looks amazing! What sweet weather we had in the city for homemade ice cream! I’ve never tried making it…you just inspired me!
Xx, Tiffany
Awesome! I highly recommend using buttermilk in your base – it’s so refreshing!
This ice cream sounds awesome! It’s such a long time ago when I had cherry flavour and I don’t know why… 🙂
Would love to make my own. No room for an ice cream maker in the tiny kitchen of mine though… 🙁
Lovely recipe, Kelly!
I love my ice cream maker! I hear you about not having room for appliances though – that’s why I’ve held off on buying a juicer and a dehydrator!
this looks amazing. we just moved to SF, so I’m saving this for when we actually get a kitchen!
Shut the front door! You guys are in SF!? I just started reading your blog and know you guys had mentioned moving, but I wasn’t sure where! So excited that you are local!!!
I’m going to pretend that I like this a normal amount. because it’d be embarrassing to tell you how much it really is..
I’m going to pretend that I like this a normal amount. because it’d be embarrassing to tell you how much it really is..
I would like to say I’m excited for yoga a normal amount. Yes, just normal…
Yum, this looks fabulous!
Thanks Tina!!!!!
GURRRRLLL – these photos are DA BOMB. Like seriously – I need to take lessons from you. And also, can I have a scoop?
Hahaha, that is the highest compliment I can get from you, beautiful photo lady! I still have some in the freezer, so come on over!
Buttermilk???? Life. Changing. These are beautiful photos Kelly!
Seriously!!!!!! It’s like yogurt but more decadent! Thanks!
Oh my wow! These pics are gorgeous Kelly! I love love love the sound of this ice cream and yes to buttermilk! It adds such a nice tang to ice cream 🙂 Can’t wait to try this black cherry recipe. Pinning 🙂 Have a great weekend lady and hopefully you’re not working all weekend again.
Thanks so much Kelly! You should definitely try the buttermilk base for all of your favorite recipes! I start a week of nights tonight so I get to pretend that today is a day off! 🙂
Do you know of any reason why I couldn’t use regular milk with lemon juice in the place of buttermilk? I buy delicious locally made milk and there is no buttermilk. But I just recently had some incredible sour cherry deliciousness on a cone and I would love to recreate it at home. And your ice cream recipes are the best! This sounds perfect.
Do you know of any reason why I couldn’t use regular milk with lemon juice in the place of buttermilk? I buy delicious locally made milk and there is no buttermilk. But I just recently had some incredible sour cherry deliciousness on a cone and I would love to recreate it at home. And your ice cream recipes are the best! This sounds perfect.
Hey Eden – I think you could make your own buttermilk with lemon juice or white vinegar and it would turn out just fine! Please let me know how it turns out so I can share this with my readers!
I’ m confused…which is not an unusual situation for me. Instruction #8 says transfer 1/3 of mixture & freeze…then add cherries. What happens to the other 2/3 of the mixture?
Hey Esther! Your confusion is 100% my fault! Originally I was going to layer the recipe to make a swirl, but I made a game-day decision to just mix it all together. I have updated the recipe to recommend freezing the entire batch to set a little bit and then mix in the cherry mixture! Thanks for catching my error!
i could definitely devour a scoop (or bowlful) of this ice cream right now.. looks seriously delicious, you can never go wrong with a good black cherry ice cream!
Agreed! I wish I still had some left! Luckily cherries are still in season!
yum! I love cherries so this ice cream is right up my street!
Great! I hope you get a chance to test out the recipe!
Its so hot and humid right now, looking at those pics just seem to help me cool off!! Any chance ice cream would survive in a box?? 😉
Haha, I’m sure there are some fancy companies who ship ice cream. Technology these days is marvelous!
Yes, my cherry pitter is my bff! I have pitted sooooo many cherries this summer. And it looks like I need to get back to work 🙂 Pinned!
Awesome! I hope you get a chance to use your pitter for this recipe. Definitely a must-make!
Such an amazing recipe. I am loving everything about it! Yum!
Thanks so much Russell! Thanks for sharing the recipe on Twitter as well! I really appreciate it!
Such an amazing recipe. I am loving everything about it! Yum!
i love buttermilk. it looks good!
Awesome. Thanks!
Hi there, I read the recipe a couple of times but I’m not seeing what the yield is; do you remember how much it actually makes? I wanted to work out the nutrition on the end result…
Hi Randal – Good question! The final recipe is about 4 1/2 cups of ice cream I added this to the recipe so it will help other readers! Thanks!
Hi there, I read the recipe a couple of times but I’m not seeing what the yield is; do you remember how much it actually makes? I wanted to work out the nutrition on the end result…
Hi
I made your ice cream today and it was amazing. I did leave out the cherry swirl as cherries are not available in South Africa right now. The ice cream has just the right amount of sweetness and tartness from the buttermilk. I do have an ice cream maker which made making this easier. Will be making this again soon.
Oh hooray! Thanks so much for letting me know! I’m so happy to hear you had a great result!
That’s some serious ice cream and looks so delicious! I make ice cream all the time but have never used buttermilk! I really enjoyed visiting your site, lots of good recipes and great pictures too!
check out my site sometime, recent post Vanilla Ice Cream
Michael 🙂
http://michaelswoodcraft.wordpress.com/2014/07/29/vanilla-ice-cream-2/
Your vanilla ice cream looks great as well! Love the cutting boards!
Your vanilla ice cream looks great as well! Love the cutting boards!
I love cherries and ice cream. I’d love a scoop of this right now!
Me too Jenna!
Can you chill the cherries overnight? Surely you don’t want to put them in warm!? I want to prepare everything the night before and just churn on the day we make it!
Good question! I used cherries straight from the fridge but I’m sure frozen would be fine!
Does this recipe turn out creamy or like ice milk? And does the buttermilk take the place of the sweeten cond. Milk?
Hi Debbie – I’m not sure what you mean about sweetened condensed milk. This is a creamy ice cream and needs an ice cream maker to make. Hope that helps!
Sounds good. Yields 4 what? Looking to make 3 quarts.
Thanks
Hi Tyler – It yields about 4 cups of ice cream.
So has anyone actually, like, made this ice cream? Or does everyone just comment on the pretty pics?
Speaking of pretty…I wouldn’t mind churning Kelly’s sweet cream!
I am obsessed with desserts! Definitely black cherry buttermilk ice cream will be yummy! I’m seriously so inspired right now. I need to add cinnamon to recipe and it would be perfect. Thx for sharing Kelly!
This is one of the best ice cream recipes I’ve ever had! You will love it!
As I’m diabetic, made some adjustments to recipe. Guess what it’s WONDERFUL.
Thx for sharing this, typed black cherry ice cream and struck GOLD..
Hi Michael – That makes me so happy to hear! I’m curious as to what modifications you tried so I can recommend them to my readers?
Legit speechless, that black cherry buttermilk ice cream recipe looks unreal! Definitely I will make it on the weekend for my family.
Where does the salt come in?
Hi Marcia – You add it in step 2!
Yum, it looks fantastic!
You will love it!
Hi, I can’t have eggs but would love to try this recipe. I know the texture of non-egg ice cream is completely different but it is necessary for me/
Usually I add more cream to get the extra fat that is missing from having no yolks. How much extra cream should I add to equal 8 egg yolks,
Any thoughts or help would be greatly appreciated!!!
TIA!