Citrus Beet Ice Cream {Recipe} {Ice Cream Week}

August 6, 2012 at 7:16 am (Dessert, Farmer's market, Ice cream, Ice Cream Week, Recipes)
Tags: Dessert, ice cream, ice cream recipe, Ice Cream Week, Orange, Orange juice, Orange zest, Red beets, roasted beets

It’s Ice Cream Week here at Of Cabbages and King Cakes! Five days devoted to everyone’s favorite summer treat. Today’s theme is “Fruits of the Summer”, which I have loosely interpreted to include one of my favorite farmer’s market finds: red beets.

This is a really easy recipe to put together. Roasting the beets is the most time-consuming part, and it’s mostly hands off. After trimming and cleaning the beets, you wrap them in foil and roast them until tender.

The most striking thing about this recipe is the color: it’s this amazing, not-at-all-natural-looking fuchsia.

And as for the ice cream itself…

It was surprisingly good, especially with a little chocolate syrup. The beet flavor really came through and, combined with the citrus, made this ice cream both bright and earthy.

Citrus Beet Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 4 medium red beets
• 1 medium orange
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1/2 cup half-and-half

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Trim stems and roots from beets. Wash beets and pat dry with paper towel. Wrap beets in heavy duty aluminum foil and roast directly on center rack in oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil package from oven. Squeeze beets. They should give a bit but still be somewhat firm. If necessary, return beets to oven and roast until done.
2. Unwrap beets and allow to cool until cool enough to handle. Rub beets to remove skins, then dice beets and place in food processor.
3. Zest the orange and add to food processor. Juice orange and add this, along with 1/4 cup additional orange juice, to food processor. Process mixture until smooth.
4. Add sour cream, sugar, and half-and-half and process until smooth and completely combined.
5. Press base through a fine mesh sieve into medium bowl. Cover bowl and refrigerate until well chilled, preferably overnight.
6. Process base in ice cream maker according to manufacturer’s instructions.
7. Serve with drizzle of chocolate syrup.

Makes about 1 quart

I know it sounds like an odd combination, but it’s worth making, if only for the color.

Here’s what’s on tap for the rest of the week (links will go live on the scheduled day):

• Tuesday — Frozen Yogurt
• Wednesday — Sorbet or Other Non-dairy Treats
• Thursday — Nuts for Ice Cream
• Friday — Original Recipe

And be sure to check out the other posts for today’s theme:

• Di’s Sweet and Sour Sorbet
• Margaret’s Blueberry Swirl Cheesecake Crumble Ice Cream
• Abby’s Strawberry Buttermilk Ice Cream
• Rebecca’s Blueberry Buttermilk Ice Cream