Lesson #83: Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream

I never cared for the orange creamsicle pops growing up. The vanilla ice cream always tasted chalky and the orange never tasted too much like real oranges. So, when I saw an idea for creamsicle ice cream in this month's Bon Appetit magazine, I thought I would give the homemade version a try. I wasn't disappointed! This homemade version is a million times better than my memory of creamsicles!

This recipe takes a little bit of planning ahead because you use an ice cream maker twice. Once for the vanilla ice cream and again for the orange sorbet. I used a different recipe than my typical vanilla ice cream because I like to keep trying new things. The vanilla ice cream was perfectly creamy and not too sweet. In the orange sorbet, I used freshly squeezed orange juice to give it the most natural (and not artificial) orange flavor possible. I also used orange zest and orange herbal tea to boost the flavor and give it a little more color. The one downfall of this recipe is that the sorbet doesn't have a strikingly orange color. I definitely didn't want to add orange food coloring, so all you see in the pictures are some pieces of orange zest. However, what it lacks in color, it makes up in taste! This ice cream is packed full of orange flavor swirled with creamy vanilla ice cream!

LESSON LEARNED: Freshly squeezed orange juice isn't bright-neon orange, but it tastes really good!

Recipe for Orange Creamsicle Ice Cream