Orange Gelato

We have enough oranges to comfortably last us until next winter. And with the last citrus of the past winter's produce still faithfully making their appearance in our veggie box every week, I've been running out of ideas of what to do with all the fruit. There is a limit to the amount of oranges you can eat or the amount of orange juice you can drink. 

For A's birthday I made a plain orange cake using a whole orange - you chuck the entire orange in the food processor and use that in your cake to give a full-bodied orange flavour (rind, juice, etc) to the baked result - delicious served lukewarm with just a drizzle of plain icing over the top. And let me tell you, that cake smelled and tasted fantastic. The simplest use of fresh ingredients always turn out the best, doesn't it? 

I've been using every excuse to make ice cream ever since TheHusband bought me an ice cream maker for my birthday this year (yes, I got the hint loud & clear! ;-)). I started out making David Leibowitz' vanilla ice cream - and if you've been judging vanilla ice cream by the crap you find in the supermarket and decided it's not for you - you need to try homemade vanilla ice cream. It is in another league entirely.

Next on my to-do list was orange gelato (two flies with one swat you see). The method used differed from the vanilla ice cream recipe and if I'm completely honest, I prefer the richness of the ice cream over this gelato, but nevertheless, the end result was pretty darn good. TheHusband and I managed to scoff almost the entire batch by ourselves, leaving a taster for A and a bite or two for my ice-cream besotted sister-in-law, M. She wouldn't have forgiven me otherwise and I've learnt it's best not to mess with her. She's a feisty one. 

Orange Gelato
Adapted from Food Network
Makes approx 1.25 litres

1 cup water
3/4 cup brown sugar
6 egg yolks
juice of 3 oranges
rind of 1 orange
1 cup cream

1. Heat water and sugar in a saucepan over low heat, stirring until sugar melts. Remove from heat and allow to cool. 
2. Whisk eggs and add to the cooled down sugar syrup, then heat again and cook over low heat until slightly thickened. The 'custard' should coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat.
3. Add orange juice and rind to the 'custard' and mix through. Allow to cool down and refrigerate overnight. Or if you're impatient like me, put it into your freezer for about 30 mins to an hour on the express freeze setting. 
4. Transfer to an ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturers instructions. When done, the ice cream will be slightly firmer than a soft serve consistency. Freeze again to set it more firmly before serving if you prefer. 

And if you need a taste tester for your batch of home made ice cream, A has informed me that her hourly rate is very reasonable.