Creamsicle Ice Cream: Part 2

This turned out real well, but I had to make some slight changes from the recipe I posted.  Blood Orange season was over when I got around to making this ice cream so I used organic Valencia Oranges, which have that wonderful sour sweet flavor and thin skins.  It's important when using peel to try and get organic oranges as they don't  have the chemical reside on the skin the way conventional do, they still may have some wax on them so it's very important to wash the oranges well before you start.

 

Pictured above are two little utensiles that make peeling and zested these skin skinned fruits a breeze.  The first is a serrated peeler, it works so much better than the non-serrated kind and allows you to get the skin with out the bitter white pith attached.

The second is a zester.  If you are really OCD you can zest the entire orange in one go, I didn't do that and if you do, you need to chop the zest up into little bite size pieces.

The other change from the recipe I first posted is that I put the peel of 3 oranges into the sugar and let it stand for a half an hour or so.  I did this before at the same time I put the peel into the cream/half half half mixture to warm.

Here are the peel in the cream mixture.  I let it sit 30 minutes.  Strained the peel then re-heated the cream.

 

I added the 6 egg yolks to the bowl of my standard mixer along with the orange peel infused sugar and beat for several minutes until thick and mayonnaise like.

It's at this point you can start adding the warmed cream mixture.  Once the warmed cream has all been mixed with the egg/sugar mixture simple pour it back into the pot over medium heat until it reaches 165-170 on your thermometer or until it coats the back of the spoon.  

Make sure to stir this mixture constantly as it warms you don't want it to curdle.

When the mixture has thickened remove from heat and add the juice.  In the original recipe I said about 3/4 cups of juice but in reality I added about a scant cup - which was exactly how much juice I got from 4 oranges. Then I added 1 Tablespoon of vanilla and wished I had Cointreau.  Initially I was going to add Vodka but decided I wanted to add something that would enhance the flavor.  

Cool he mixture over night and then pop it into your ice cream maker.

Here is the new updated recipe so you don't have to refer back to the original post:

Creamsicle Ice Cream

Wash 4 oranges (I wanted to use Valencia, but really want to try this with Blood Oranges) organic if you can find them, using a serrated vegetable peeler, peel into strips 1 of the oranges, trying as best as you can to not get any white pith.  

Finely zest the other three oranges and place the zest into a bowl with 1 cup of sugar. 

Juice all 4 oranges and reserve the juice.

Place the orange peel into a medium heavy bottomed sauce pan with 2 1/2 cups of heavy cream and 3/4 cup of half and half over medium heat warm until it just starts to boil - then quickly it take off the heat.  Let this mixture sit with the orange peel in it for about 30 minutes so it can be infused with the flavor of the orange.

Meanwhile separate 6 large organic eggs, reserving the whites for other use (Angel food cake!) place into a mixing bowl along with the orange zest infused sugar whisk vigorously for several minutes until the mixture resembles a thick mayonnaise.

Strain the orange peel out of the cream mixture then reheat the cream mixture until it hot, but not boiling and slowly adding it to the egg yolk sugar mixture, whisking it all the time, when all the warm liquid has been added pour back into the sauce pan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the mixture reaches 165-170F on a thermometer or if you don't have one coats the back of the spoon.  Remove from the heat.

If the mixture has curdled at all during this process pour through a fine sieve into a bowl. You will lose the orange zest if you do this.

Stir in the orange juice slowly to the cream mixture then stir in 1 Tablespoon of good quality Cointreau, Grand Marnier, Vodka (Crops Organic is my favorite) or Vanilla Extract. 

Chill in the fridge until cold (overnight) then process in your ice cream maker according to instructions.

I served it with a rhubarb crumble but this is great just by itself!