Blueberry ice cream

Makes 1 litre 

Ingredients:

300g blueberries, washed and stemmed if necessary
300g sugar
4 strips lemon zest (about 1cm x 5cm each)
1/2 tsp ground white pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
440ml milk
625 ml thick cream
 1 vanilla bean, split lenghtwise
1/4 tsp salt
6 egg yolks

Preparation:

In a saucepan, combine the blueberries, 75g sugar and the lemon zest.
Cook over medium heat, stirring very frequently, until blueberries are very soft, to 4 or 5 minutes.
Place a fine sieve over a bowl.
Pour the blueberry mixture through the sieve, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon to extract all the juice and discard the solids. Stir in the pepper and ginger and set aside.
In a large saucepan over medium heat, combine the milk, cream, 110g sugar, vanilla bean and salt.
Scald the mixture just until small bubbles appear.
In a bowl, whisk the egg yolks and remaining sugar until well blended.
Gradually whisk a little milk mixture into the egg mixture, then pour both mixtures into the saucepan.
Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the custard coats the back of a spoon, about 15 minutes.
Remove from the heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the custard and discard the pod.
Cover the saucepan and refrigerate until custard is cold, 1 to 2 hours.
Pour the reserved blueberry mixture into the custard and stir until well blended.
Transfer to an ice-cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer's instructions.