This blue vanilla ice cream is a fun and vibrant take on a classic flavor. Butterfly pea flower adds a slightly earthy flavor that pairs perfectly with vanilla, but it’s also easy to cover up with any flavor your heart desires. It’s made with my Philadelphia-style ice cream base to enhance the blue color and create a lighter, fluffier texture. If you’re into naturally dyed ice cream, butterfly pea powder is an ingredient I think you’ll love, especially since it pulls double-duty for making purple dye as well!
Butterfly Pea Flowers for Naturally Dyed Blue Ice Cream
Butterfly pea flowers create such a lovely, natural blue shade. They come from the vining butterfly pea plant, and they’re rich in anthocyanins, a type of antioxidant that lends them their color. I like to use butterfly pea powder because it’s already broken down into an easily dissolvable powder. It does tend to clump up after you open it, so I recommend sifting it through a fine-mesh sieve before using it in your ice cream to avoid dry, powdery clumps.
I’m an avid tea-drinker, so I opted to buy this over blue spirulina powder since I knew I would be more likely to use it up in a reasonable time frame (it’s great for making moon milk or a colorful blue boba tea). I’ve also heard that spirulina varies widely in quality, and low quality powders can taste fishy—not something I want to take a chance on in my ice cream. That said, there are some nicer brands out there now, and I think this would produce a more vibrant blue.
The technical profile for this recipe is essentially identical to my Philadelphia-style base, so if you’re looking for those specs, head to that recipe.
How to Go from Blue to Purple
If you’re looking for a vibrant purple dye instead, butterfly pea powder still has you covered! The pigment in these flowers is pH sensitive. At a neutral or high pH (basic, like milk and cream), it stays blue. But add a drop of acid, and it turns vivid magenta. A squeeze of lemon juice will do the trick, or go for more of a blue moon ice cream situation, and blend citrus and vanilla.
Flavor Variations
Beyond the fun color-changing properties, the bright blue color of this butterfly pea flower ice cream lends itself to all sorts of fun flavors.
- Blue Moon: Like I mentioned above, a bit of citrus gives a hit of that blue moon flavor. But if you don’t want your ice cream to turn purple, use lemon extract or lemon oil instead. Fresh raspberries or raspberry extract is the other component that brings that fruity vibe.
- Birthday Cake: A touch of almond extract and some colorful sprinkles make this blue ice cream taste just like a birthday cake. Add in some chopped up cake pieces, and you’re in for a real treat!
- Cookie Monster: Fold in heaps of all your favorite cookies to make this Sesame Street-inspired flavor.
Using Blue Vanilla Ice Cream as a Pool Cake Layer
This blue ice cream is an invention with intent. When I was developing my recipe for a homemade pool cake (coming soon!), I knew that I didn’t want to use the typical Cool Whip topping with food dye. Instead, I wanted the top layer to be pure ice creamy goodness, and naturally blue to boot. It looks like water, and it tastes so good!
Can I Make Blue Ice Cream Using a Custard Base Instead?
Yes, you absolutely can make this blue ice cream into a French custard—with two caveats:
- The blue color may not turn out as vibrant
- The texture will be much denser
I found that the Philly-style base has a brighter white appearance than the custard. This is because there aren’t any egg yolks to add a yellowish hue. I think Philly-style works better when you want to have vibrant colors. That said, if you prefer the custard texture and flavor, go for it. You may need to use a bit more powder than I did to get a nice color, though. Because I do two flavor layers in my pool cake, I wanted to do one flavor of each base for a fun contrast.
Storage and Make Ahead Tips
This blue vanilla ice cream is pretty quick to make—just stir and churn. But it does need a solid 4 hours to harden up enough to scoop into your springform pan. You don’t want it too hard, or it won’t spread easily. But you can also just leave it out on the counter for 10-ish minutes to soften it back up.
It’ll keep in an airtight container in the freezer for up to 1 month. But once you get it formed in your cake pan, I’d only let it go for a week max.
Blue Vanilla Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 160 g cane sugar
- 75 g skim milk powder
- 0.8 g guar gum
- 6 g butterfly pea powder sifted
- 450 g whole milk
- 350 g heavy cream
- 1 g kosher salt
- 6 g vanilla extract
Equipment
- Whisk
- Fine-Mesh Sieve
- Compressor-Style Ice Cream Maker
Video
Method
- Whisk 160 g cane sugar, 75 g skim milk powder, and 0.8 g guar gum together.
- Sift 6 g butterfly pea powder over top through a fine-mesh sieve to remove any lumps.
- Whisk everything well until it all takes on a pale blue color.
- Pour in 450 g whole milk and stir.
- Add 350 g heavy cream, 1 g kosher salt, and 6 g vanilla extract, and stir well.
- Churn for 30 minutes, or until your ice cream reaches soft-serve consistency.
- Scoop into pints and let cure for at least 4 hours, or up to overnight.
Notes
- Sift the butterfly pea flower powder through a fine-mesh sieve before adding to remove clumps.
- Whisk the dry ingredients (sugar, milk powder, guar gum, pea flower powder) together before adding any liquid to avoid blotchy color.
- Want a more vibrant blue? Add a touch more powder—just know it may shift the flavor slightly more earthy.
- Can sub blue spirulina powder if you don’t have butterfly pea flower on hand, but expect a slightly different flavor and possibly less vibrant color.
- Keep this ice cream away from acidic add-ins (citrus, fruit purees) if you want it to stay blue. The pigment shifts to purple/magenta at low pH.
