No-Churn Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

In high school, I was smitten over the boy who sat in front of me in Latin class. It was a quiet crush; I was a shy and modest girl, only becoming more introverted when faced with the back of my crush's head. In the four years we shared the same small Latin class, I never worked up the courage to talk to him. We had quite a bit in common, both in and out of school, but when we'd find ourselves alone in the classroom, I'd bury my face in my notes instead of facing him. When I did open my mouth to speak, the words would stop before leaving my mouth, leaving me looking like a fish out of water.

I can only imagine what he thought about me, if he thought anything at all.

This particular boy I admired also wrote for the school paper. Each month I made it a point to page through it, as girls with high school crushes will do. One particular month, however, I came across an article that made me stop. It was written by a girl proclaiming her crush on a boy for all the school to read. The article would not have been nearly as interesting, except for one detail: part of the article had been lifted from a creative writing assignment I had written for English class the year prior. Confused by the plagarism, I scanned the article and gasped. This proclamation of "like" wasn't written about just any boy. It was for my crush and this girl was using my words to profess it!

It was a moment straight out of a sitcom.

I immediately folded up the paper and looked around for my best friend. As the girl who had heard me gush about this boy for the better part of two years, she was the only one who could understand and share in the sheer irony of the situation. As I showed her the paper and told her the story, we laughed until I cried. It was comedic and devastating, all at once. Looking back, it was, in essence, one of those quintessential high school experience.

Though I chose to ignore the plagiarism, I eventually learned my crush had turned the other girl down. As happy as I was about this turn of events, it still left me with one unanswered question: did he turn her down because he didn't return her feelings or did he turn her down because of the words she used to profess it? Would he have turned me down if he had known where those words originally came?

I may never know.

No-Churn Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream is creamy, dreamy, and you don't need an ice cream maker to create it! Blueberries are swirled into a cream cheese base, creating a colorful dessert that tastes remarkably like blueberry cheesecake. It is very rich, so a little does go a long way. One scoop will make for a refreshing dessert after an evening meal.

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No-Churn Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream
Adapted from Kitchen Simplicity

Yields about 1 quart

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon cornstarch
6 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 cups whipping cream, cold
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine blueberries and granulated sugar. Cook over medium high heat until berries burst and release their juices (about 5-10 minutes). Add the cornstarch to thicken and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and place blueberries in the freezer to cool down quickly (about 10-12 minutes).

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese and brown sugar until smooth. Add 1/2 cup cream and whip until the cream cheese mixture becomes incorporated. Scrape the bowl as needed. Add the rest of the cream and the vanilla extract and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.

In a plastic container, spread half the whipped cream. Top with half the blueberries. Spread the remaining cream and top with the remaining blueberries. Using a knife, swirl the ice cream. Cover and place in the freezer for 6 full hours before serving. No ice cream maker necessary!