Cara cara ice cream, candied orange peel
31 May 2017
This ice cream is a gorgeous way to showcase fresh oranges. I used cara cara oranges, but any kind of citrus will work here - try tangelos, or mandarins.
Making ice cream is a study in chemistry, and it's a world I'm quite new to. There are many possible outcomes depending on what you like: chewy ice creams, soft custard-like ice creams, rich and heavy vs light and airy, etc, etc. Ice cream bases are defined by how they balance milk, cream and other fats, sugar, and stabilizers - this base is somewhere in the middle, and not too dense. The hydrocolloids help the texture and prevent ice crystal formation, which gives an unpleasant mouthfeel. I intentionally stopped churning it a few minutes early during service to yield a very soft frozen-custard-like end result. You can churn fully and freeze for a more traditional ice cream result.
Frozen oranges hollowed out into bowls make a cute serving vessel. There is some candied orange peel hiding under the ice cream which adds just the right slightly-bitter citrus flavor note and some textural contrast, and a pinch of Maldon salt accentuates the flavor perfectly (Maldon makes everything perfect).
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Ingredients
Makes about 1qt.
Maldon salt
For the candied oranges:
1 cara cara orange
Sugar
For the ice cream base:
275g cara cara orange juice (5-6 oranges)
75g egg yolks (4 large)
70g sugar
50g glucose syrup
370g milk
370g cream
0.7g kosher salt
1.1g locust bean gum
1.1g xanthan gum
Directions
- Prepare the candied oranges: cut the orange into thin slices. Prepare a 30% simple syrup with enough water to cover the oranges (for example: 30g sugar, 100g water). Bring the syrup to a boil, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Add the orange slices and cook 20 minutes.
- Remove the orange slices and cool on a rack. Store in the refrigerator.
- Prepare the ice cream; begin 1 day in advance. Set aside four of the most attractive oranges to use as serving pieces; zest and juice the remaining orange(s). For the reserved oranges: slice slightly above halfway to make a bowl and lid. Run a paring knife around the flesh in the bowl, then scoop out the all flesh with a spoon. Do the same with the lid and remove any excess stringy pith. Juice the flesh and reserve the bowls and lids in the freezer until needed.
- Add the milk, cream, locust bean gum, salt, glucose syrup and zest in a wide pot and whisk or blend well to combine. Heat to 180F to hydrate the gum. Set aside and cool to 140F.
- While the base is cooking, whisk egg yolks and sugar in a bowl.
- Strain the milk mixture into the yolks and whisk well. Transfer the mixture back to the pot and heat to 160F for 3 minutes (take care to not exceed 160F for too long as it will take on a cooked egg flavor).
- Whisk or blend in the xanthan gum with an immersion blender.
- Strain into a bowl set in an ice bath and chill thoroughly, stirring occasionally. If you have a blowtorch, you can use it to remove bubbles from the surface.
- Once the mixture is chilled, stir in the orange juice and chill in the refrigerator for for 24 hours.
- Churn in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions.
- To serve: slice the peels from some of the candied oranges and chop (discard the flesh). Add ~ 1 Tbsp of the chopped orange peels to the bottom of a frozen orange bowl, and fill with the orange ice cream. Top with a small pinch of Maldon salt, add a lid and serve.
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