black raspberry ice cream

It's black raspberry season, you guys.  And it's hot.
We have had mild weather so far this year and it has been marvelous.  This week, the temperatures are starting to behave more like a Virginia summer…mid-90s and humid.  Of course, this week is also when the black raspberry pickin' is good.  I've been out three times so far, in my jeans and bug spray, picking soft little berries and catching my clothes on the thorns.  It has been hot, sticky work and while I'm doing it I think "this is a lot of work and I should just keep all these berries/their resulting treats to myself."
And then I made this ice cream.  And it is so gorgeous and tasty that I want to share.
I want to share how I did it too, in case you know of a good raspberry patch and are feeling ambitious.  It's so easy--not like a traditional ice cream using cooked egg yolks.

Black Raspberry Ice Cream

based on the strawberry ice cream recipe I use (sadly I can't remember where I originally got it)

1 cup heavy cream
1 cup milk
about 2 cups black raspberries
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
a pinch of salt

Purée the berries in a blender or food processor (it might help to add a little bit of milk or cream to aid the pureeing process…that's what I did).  Black raspberries are full of seeds…if you want a smooth, seedless ice cream, you'll want to strain them out.  Place the purée in a mesh strainer and force as much juice/pulp through as you can.  This is the most tedious part, and you probably won't get every bit of juice out (at least, I didn't…and I transferred the purée back and forth a few times to rinse the seeds out of the strainer).  Then, just combine with the rest of the ingredients and chill in the refrigerator until you're ready to freeze the mixture in your ice cream machine.  Follow the instructions for your ice cream machine and enjoy! (you'll want to place the just-churned ice cream in the freezer for awhile so it has a chance to set up before you take your first scoop).