Blood Orange Ice Cream

I know there are people out there who don't like ice cream.

I mean, I get it if you are lactose intolerant.

But...just NOT liking it is a little odd. What's not to like?

Surprise, surprise - Sue isn't a huge fan of ice cream. But then, she's weird so......

Anyways...
I am loving my dad's ice cream machine. It makes making ice cream a breeze.

I still dream of making Salted Caramel Ice Cream - just mentioning the name starts me drooling. Unfortunately I have given up on my attempts to make that for now. See here for my tale of woe.

Instead, I decided to make blood orange ice cream.
There is not a lot of recipes out there for orange ice cream - orange sorbet, yes, ice cream, no. As for BLOOD ORANGE ice cream, I couldn't find any.

I decided to see what I could come up with on my own. I was pretty happy with the result.

Blood Orange Ice Cream

Ingredients

6 blood oranges

 1/3 cup orange juice

1 avocado, peeled & seeded

2 cups whipping cream

1 cup half & half

1/2 cup white sugar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a food processor or blender, puree blood oranges, orange juice, and avocado until very smooth. You should end up with about 2 1/2 to 3 cups of puree.

In a stand mixer, on low speed, combine whipping cream and half & half. Add in sugar and mix until sugar is dissolved. With mixer running on low, add in lemon juice, vanilla, and blood orange puree. Mix until well combined and smooth.

At this point you will want to strain some or all of the pulp out of the mixture by pouring it through a strainer into another bowl. I strained approximately 3/4 of the mixture and left the pulp in 1/4 of it to add some texture.  

Chill the mixture in a covered container until it is chilled.

Pour into your ice cream maker and process according to manufacturer's instructions. Store in freezer.

If it becomes too hard in the freezer, simply let it sit out for 15 minutes or so before serving to soften.

My samplers said it tasted like an Orange Julius and/or a creamsicle. It has a lovely blood orange flavor and the color is really pretty. I was hoping it would be a darker pinky-orange but was happy with the light pink it ended up. I suppose you could add food coloring if you wanted to.

The avocado is a strange ingredient, I admit,  but it certainly does help to create the smooth texture of the ice cream. And, don't worry, you can't tell it is in there at all as far as flavor or color goes. It's a good way to sneak some extra nutrients into a delicious treat.

Be sure to pop over to Carole's Chatter for tons more orange recipe links.