Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Beet Ice Cream with Orange Zest and Poppy Seeds



Eating beets has never been an attractive choice for me until now. I'll be honest: I made this ice cream for the color. That's all natural fuschia, my friends. Earthy and tart, beet ice cream is not your typical after-school special, but it's worth every spoonful (and the poppy seeds add a nice crunch!).



Beet Ice Cream with Orange Zest and Poppy Seeds
adapted from Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home

yields one generous quart

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
4 teaspoons cornstarch
1 1/4 cups heavy cream
2/3 cup sugar
2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
zest of 1 orange
3 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup puréed roasted red beets (two medium-sized beets will get the job done)
2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions:
For the roasted beets: Preheat oven to 450°F. Wrap the beets in a sheet of foil. Bake until very soft, about 1 hour. Let the beets cool slightly, then peel them while still warm. Cut into chunks and puree through a sieve.

For the ice cream: In a bowl, stir together 1/4 cup milk and the cornstarch; set slurry aside. In a saucepan, whisk together remaining milk and the cream, sugar, syrup, and salt; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Add orange peel. Cook for 4 minutes; stir in slurry. Return to a boil and cook, stirring, until thickened, about 2 minutes.

Place cream cheese in a bowl and pour in 1/4 cup hot milk mixture; whisk until smooth. Then whisk in remaining milk mixture; stir in beets. Pour mixture into a plastic bag; seal, and submerge in a bowl of ice water until chilled, about 30 minutes.

Pour mixture into an ice cream maker; add poppy seeds; process according to manufacturer's instructions. Transfer ice cream to a storage container and freeze until set, about 4 hours.

Enjoy.
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18 comments:

  1. I am totally intrigued by this! And being the ice cream freak that I am, I will be trying this for sure. My latest batch was Nutmeg ice cream with Apricot swirl. Going to post that soon, hopefully!

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    1. That sounds DELICIOUS! I can't wait to try it :)

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  2. Amazing!
    Will try it out as soon as possible :)

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  3. Your eye catching photo on Foodbuzz lured me back for a peek. I have a tortured relationship with beets and have trouble believing something this beautiful could come from a beet and taste ice creamy. This may coax me into trying it...

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    1. Oh, I completely understand Toni. Beets and I have had a rough go, too. When I was little, I bit into a beet thinking it was cranberry sauce... so disappointing... the ice cream is more sweet than savory, but I think you could add some orange juice to quell the beet flavor a bit more :) I love your blog! Cheers.

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  4. Whoa...that color is amazing! Like you, the slightly unnatural color of beets has turned me off for years. It wasn't only until last year that I started enjoying the taste of it. Unusual ice cream flavor and interested in trying a small test batch of this.

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  5. I love the color of the Beet Ice Cream. It is beautiful! Congratulations on Foodbuzz Top 9:)

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  6. What a nice color! Sounds great!

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  7. Cant deny the color in the dish. Very nice, and congratulations on making the foodbuzz Top 9!

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  8. This color is unreal. I already make a delicious chocolate beet cake -- perhaps I need to add beet ice cream on the side.

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  9. beautiful color! and congrats on top 9!

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  10. The color alone makes me happy, brightens my day, makes me grin and to know it is from such a yummy vegetable, all the better, WOW!

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  11. This is the most awesome colored Ice Cream ever! WOW...it looks gorgeous!

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  12. wow. it's really a good contribution to us guys not good at icecream, you know i did some cakes before but the taste it's not good, then i quit, so if you have interesting, you can load to omega watches for women

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