Bitter Orange Ice Cream

Asked by Jimmymum. Answered on 12th February 2015

Full question

Hi, I would like to know how long the Bitter Orange Ice Cream will keep in the freezer? I have just found the Seville oranges in the greengrocers and I would like to serve it in a month's time. I know Nigella says you can zest and juice the oranges and freeze (or freeze the oranges whole?) but do you defrost this before making the ice cream and is it inferior to making the ice cream with the fresh oranges?

Our answer

Nigella's No-Churn Bitter Orange Ice Cream (from Nigella Bites and on the Nigella website) is made with Seville oranges (the type used for marmalade) in season and a mixture of regular orange and lime juice at other times. As the ice cream does not contain any eggs it is at its best withing a week of making and should be consumed within a month. The texture of the ice cream will become more icy the longer it is stored.

If you want to serve the ice cream at a later date then it is probably best to freeze the juice and zest and make the ice cream closer to the date you would like to serve it on. Most foods should not be thawed and re-frozen. Fruit juice can be thawed and re-frozen but must be kept below 7c/45F and used within 24 hours. So thaw the juice and zest overnight in the fridge just before making the ice cream. Whole oranges can be difficult to juice easily once thawed, and are better used for marmalade (though the pectin content can deteriorate on freezing so pectin may need to be added).