A grass-grazed ice cream swirled with seasonal blackberry-blueberry jam and crunchy oat streusel. Brambleberry Crisp is the Jeni's flavor that defines the Columbus-founded brand nationally.

Jeni Britton Bauer opened Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at the North Market scoop counter in 2002. The grass-grazed dairy ice cream program, with intensified flavor through a low-fat base and dense churn, became the brand's signature. Brambleberry Crisp launched in the late 2000s and remains the canonical Jeni's flavor. Bauer won a James Beard Foundation Award in 2012 for her cookbook Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home.

Where to eat Jeni's Brambleberry Crisp in Columbus

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Make it at home

Serves 112 hrIntermediate

Ingredients

  • 470ml whole milk (grass-fed if possible)
  • 240ml heavy cream
  • 150g granulated sugar
  • 2 tbsp cornstarch
  • 50g cream cheese, softened
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1 tbsp light corn syrup
  • 200g mixed blackberries and blueberries
  • 50g brown sugar
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 100g rolled oats
  • 60g flour
  • 60g butter, melted
  • 40g brown sugar (for crumble)

Method

  1. Make the streusel: combine oats, flour, melted butter and brown sugar; spread on a baking sheet and bake at 175C (350F) for 15 minutes until golden. Cool and break into small clusters.
  2. Make the jam: cook berries, brown sugar and lemon juice in a saucepan over medium heat for 8 minutes until thickened. Cool completely.
  3. Make the ice cream base: mix 2 tbsp milk with cornstarch into a slurry. Heat remaining milk, cream, sugar and corn syrup to a low boil. Whisk in cornstarch slurry and cook 1 minute until thickened.
  4. Whisk cream cheese and salt in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the hot milk mixture to incorporate. Cool over an ice bath, then refrigerate at least 4 hours or overnight.
  5. Churn in an ice cream maker following the manufacturer's instructions. In the last 2 minutes of churning, add half the streusel and ribbon in the berry jam.
  6. Transfer to a container, swirl through remaining jam and streusel, and freeze at least 4 hours.

Editor tip. Cream cheese plus cornstarch is the Jeni's trick for dense churn and intense flavor at lower butterfat; don't skip either.

Common allergens: Dairy, Gluten.