No-Churn Bitter Orange Ice Cream
by Nigella. Featured in NIGELLA BITESIntroduction
I first made this with Seville oranges, but since these are available only in January here, it would be unhelpfully restricting to suggest no substitutes out of season (though you could always freeze the oranges, either whole or just their zest and juice). I won't lie to you and say that my suggested substitutes are quite as magnificent as the original — nothing can provide that biting, aromatic intensity that you get from Seville oranges, which have the taste of orange and the ravaging sourness of lemons — but ordinary eating oranges combined with lime juice provide a glorious tangy and fragrant hit of their own.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
I first made this with Seville oranges, but since these are available only in January here, it would be unhelpfully restricting to suggest no substitutes out of season (though you could always freeze the oranges, either whole or just their zest and juice). I won't lie to you and say that my suggested substitutes are quite as magnificent as the original — nothing can provide that biting, aromatic intensity that you get from Seville oranges, which have the taste of orange and the ravaging sourness of lemons — but ordinary eating oranges combined with lime juice provide a glorious tangy and fragrant hit of their own.
For US cup measures, use the toggle at the top of the ingredients list.
Ingredients
Serves: 6
- 3 seville oranges (or 1 eating orange and 2 limes)
- 175 grams icing sugar
- 500 millilitres double cream
- 6 wafers (to serve)
- 3 seville oranges (or 1 eating orange and 2 limes)
- 1¾ cups confectioners' sugar
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 6 wafers (to serve)
Method
- If using Seville oranges, grate the zest of 2 of them. Squeeze the juice of all 3 and pour into a bowl with the zest and sugar. If you're going for the sweet orange and lime option, grate the zest of the orange and one of the limes, juice them and add to the sugar as before.
- Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the double cream.
- Whip everything until it holds soft peaks, and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 litres / 8 cups) with a lid. (If using American heavy-cream or whipping cream in other countries, whisk your cream in a bowl first, until it reaches soft peaks, then whisk in the other ingredients and continue whisking until thick again.)
- Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours). Remove to ripen for 15-20 minutes (or 30-40 in the fridge) before eating.
- Serve in a bowl, in cones, with wafers — however you like.
- If using Seville oranges, grate the zest of 2 of them. Squeeze the juice of all 3 and pour into a bowl with the zest and sugar. If you're going for the sweet orange and lime option, grate the zest of the orange and one of the limes, juice them and add to the sugar as before.
- Stir to dissolve the sugar and add the heavy cream.
- Whip everything until it holds soft peaks, and then turn into a shallow air-tight container (of approximately 2 litres / 8 cups) with a lid. (If using American heavy-cream or whipping cream in other countries, whisk your cream in a bowl first, until it reaches soft peaks, then whisk in the other ingredients and continue whisking until thick again.)
- Cover and freeze until firm (from 3 to 5 hours). Remove to ripen for 15-20 minutes (or 30-40 in the fridge) before eating.
- Serve in a bowl, in cones, with wafers — however you like.
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Show more commentsI made this with Seville oranges and the resulting ice cream was delightful and well balanced in sweetness and tartness. I didn’t heed the advice for Americans and whipped up my pint of heavy whipping cream along with the rest of the ingredients and the ice cream still turned out perfect. I also found that I didn’t need to ‘ripen’ either as the ice cream was perfectly light and airy straight out the freezer. If you have a hard time finding plain wafers like the ones pictured, they’re often sold at Eastern European/Middle Eastern groceries in the US.
Added a table spoon of vodka to mine. And it remains beautiful and soft and no need to leave out to ripen as you say. Fabulous icecream.
I make this every year when Seville oranges appear in the shops. One day I'll try the version with limes though. My favorite way to serve this ice cream is on top of a chocolate brownie, with a little dark chocolate sauce drizzled on top. Making my mouth water just thinking about it! :-D
As soon as this was first shown on television, I did a few variations of this with raspberry, strawberry and banana but the best one of all, and the simplest, was with lemons. I used the same amount of cream but used 2 lemons and 200g of icing sugar. To this day, I and my family still make this and it ALWAYS goes down very well. Thanks Nigella for this recipe.
I've made this several times, always well received! It's the best use for frozen seville oranges, as I find they're not so successful for marmalade - I presume freezing damages the pectin as the pips don't yield as much "goo".
It was yummy when I put in the freezer yesterday but this morning when I took it out, it was amazing. The orange and lime really came out over night. Delicious!
I do this with two lemons and one lime. Just yummy. I have also done it as a strawberry ripple by making an unsweetened strawberry puree (straining out the pips) and stirring it through as a ripple