Valencia Orange and Cardamom

Absolutely filing this away to repeat in the future – 9 out of 10

From The Perfect Scoop, with an addition

The recipe was for Oranges and Cardamom. I happened to find Valencia Oranges and used those, but Navels would be just fine.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons cardamom seeds, crushed
• 1½ cups (375ml) whole milk
• 1½ cups (375ml) heavy cream
• 1 cup (200g) sugar
• 4 oranges, preferably unsprayed (I did 2, because I only bought 2 by mistake)
• 6 large egg yolks
• Juice from the 2 oranges (not in recipe, see explanation below)

Directions:

1. Place seeds in a heavy-duty freezer bag and crack them with a rolling pin or hammer.
2. Heat the milk, ½ cup (125ml) of the cream, and the sugar with the crushed cardamom in a medium saucepan. Zest the oranges directly into the saucepan. Once warm, cover, remove from the heat, and let steep at room temperature for 1 hour.
3. Not in recipe – I only had 2 oranges, so to give it more orange flavor, I juiced them and reduced the juice in a saucepan until it was a thick syrup (to get rid of as much water as possible). Add it to the steeping mixture. This might have been a mistake, as it caused some curdling. I strained it out, but in the future I would add it later.
4. Rewarm the infused mixture. Pour the remaining 1 cup (250ml) heavy cream into a large bowl and set a mesh strainer on top.
5. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm mixture into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks into the saucepan. Stir the mixture constantly with a heatproof spatula over medium heat, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula.
6. Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the cream. Stir over an ice bath until cool.
7. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator (I didn't have any more curdling), then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.