Orange Ice Cream
Enjoy the sweet and tangy flavor of a creamsicle in this recipe for homemade Orange Ice Cream.
Made with a luscious, rich, french-style custard base, and blended with the juice and zest from juicy fresh oranges, you won’t believe how amazing this ice cream is!
Orange Ice cream is naturally gluten-free and nut-free.
Oranges and creamy vanilla are a flavor combination that can’t be resisted. We get the same flavors in this Orange Sherbet.
You’ll find a similar tart/sweet/creamy flavor profile in our Lemon Ice Cream Recipe.
If you are looking for a slightly more simple recipe made with fresh citrus fruit, try making Orange Popsicles, or Lemon Sorbet instead.
Why You’re Going to Love this Orange Ice Cream Recipe
Unique Ice Cream Flavor – You won’t always find orange ice cream on the grocery store shelves, but you will always be able to make your own, whenever you have a craving for it.
Classic and Nostalgic – Remember eating creamsicles (or dreamsicles) on a hot day in the back yard? This orange ice cream with a creamy vanilla base will remind you of those simple times.
Easy Scratch Ice Cream Recipe – You only need a few basic ingredients to make this old-fashioned orange ice cream recipe. The whole thing comes together without any sweetened condensed milk, artificial flavors, or difficult-to-find ingredients.
Extra Rich and Creamy – We’re making this orange cream ice cream recipe using a custard base that’s made from egg yolks. This makes the ice cream amazingly rich with a delightfully creamy texture.
You could swap out strawberry ice cream for this orange ice cream in a Neapolitan ice cream recipe, for a fun twist.
Ingredients in Homemade Orange Ice Cream
Egg Yolks – These create the base for our ice cream custard. We’ll gently heat the egg yolks to cook them, but you can also purchase pasteurized eggs if you prefer.
Granulated Sugar – For sweetness and texture, plain, white, granulated sugar is the best choice.
Whole Milk – The first of our dairy items adds bulk and helps to incorporate the egg yolks into the base.
Orange Zest – Most of an orange’s flavor comes from the very outer skin of the fruit. Remove it using a micropane so that you can infuse it into the ice cream base.
Salt – A bit of salt enhances the flavor of the orange and vanilla.
Heavy Cream – A mix of both heavy cream and whole milk is what gives us the perfect creamy texture.
Orange Juice – Freshly squeezed orange juice is a must for this ice cream recipe! You’ll need about 4 juicy oranges to get enough.
Vanilla Extract – a nice, high-quality, pure vanilla extract will give tons of warm vanilla flavor.
If you have any questions about how to make this orange ice cream, please leave a comment below.
How to Make Orange Ice Cream from Scratch
Start the day before by making sure that the bowl for your ice cream maker has at least 24 hours to freeze solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil.
- Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined. This is called “tempering” the eggs.
- Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Then, add the heavy cream, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 25 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
- Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid.
- Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
These numbered steps match the numbered photos above and are for illustration purposes. For the complete list of ingredients and instructions, please see the recipe below.
How to Store Orange Ice Cream
Store this homemade Orange Cream Ice Cream in the freezer in an airtight container with a piece of parchment paper or wax paper pressed on top for up to one month.
Tips for Making This Orange Ice Cream Recipe
Use quality ingredients – When making homemade ice cream, you’ll want to make sure you are using high-quality ingredients for the best outcome.
Find fresh, juicy oranges – your ice cream just won’t be as delicious without the juice and the zest from a few tasty oranges. Fresh squeezed orange juice is the best!
Chill out – If possible, always start with chilled ingredients. This is important for homemade no-churn ice cream recipes and ice cream maker recipes.
Don’t skimp on the fat – High-fat milk and cream are essential when making homemade ice cream. Opting for a low-fat option often leads to icy ice creams and inconsistency in the texture.
Don’t go crazy with the add-ins – If you’re adding in additional ingredients, pick one or two and make sure they are chopped into pieces no larger than a blueberry or pea.
Don’t skimp on the sugar – Sugar not only adds sweetness to homemade ice creams, it also helps with the texture. Sugar is essential for the creamy texture of ice cream.
What Is the Difference Between Orange Ice Cream, Orange Sherbet and Orange Sorbet?
The difference between these three orange frozen desserts lies in the way that they are made.
Orange Ice Cream, like we’re making here, is made with heavy cream, custard, and lots of sugar. It has a very high fat content.
Orange Sherbet (or Sherbert) on the other hand, is made from pureed fruit and juice and a small amount of milk to make it sort of creamy. It’s creamier than sorbet but not nearly as creamy as ice cream.
Sorbet is a dairy-free frozen dessert, usually made with only sugar and fruit puree. Generally, sorbet is fat-free and has an icy texture.
Aside from these three big ones, there are also granitas, gelatos, and more variations on frozen desserts.
It’s amazing how much effort has been put in to create all of these – we must really like ice cream a lot!
No Churn Orange Ice Cream Directions
Chill a shallow container or a loaf pan in the freezer while you mix the ice cream ingredients.
Pour the ice cream mixture into the prepared pan and freeze for 3-4 hours. Stir the ice cream every 30 minutes for the first 2 hours to help add air. This will help create a creamy, smooth texture.
Orange Cream Ice Cream Add-Ins
I like this ice cream exactly as it is. The smooth, creamy, orange-y ice cream with bits of zest needs no help to be delicious.
However, you can totally add things to this recipe if you’d like!
Try adding chopped white chocolate to add extra sweetness and texture.
Chopped pieces of pound cake, vanilla wafers, or cookies can also be mixed in.
Dark chocolate goes really well with the flavor of oranges and will create an orange chocolate flavor. Chopped dark chocolate or mini semisweet chocolate chips will do the job.
Or serve it over this Italian hangover cake!
How to Make a Swirled Orange Ice Cream
Maybe you’re trying to recreate your favorite creamsicle ice cream, or you have an idea for a flavor combo you’d like to try!
I say go for it.
First, make this orange ice cream recipe and store it in the freezer as directed.
Put your ice cream bowl in the freezer and wait for it to harden again so that you can make another ice cream flavor, like chocolate, vanilla bean ice cream, or fresh raspberry ice cream.
Let the orange ice cream soften on the counter for 10 minutes while you finish churning the second flavor.
Using two loaf-sized containers, layer the orange ice cream, then your other just churned flavor. Swirl lightly with a spatula and freeze until solid.
Don’t want to wait? You might need to get a second ice cream maker so that you can make two flavors at once!
Can You Buy Orange Ice Cream?
This is not a super popular ice cream flavor that I see at the store very often. Sometimes you might find orange cream swirled ice cream, or vanilla ice cream swirled with orange sherbet.
This recipe is special because it’s made from scratch with real orange juice! You won’t find anything like it on your weekly shopping trip.
How Many Oranges Do I Need?
You’ll need the juice and the zest from about 4 oranges to make this recipe.
Be sure to zest your oranges before you juice them. It is very difficult to zest an orange after it has been sliced in half and juiced.
I personally use a hand juicer to juice my oranges, but you can also squeeze them by hand. If you do it by hand, I recommend straining out the seeds with a fine mesh sieve before adding to the mixture.
Why Doesn’t Orange Juice Curdle in Ice Cream?
Adding orange juice to milk will often create a curdled, unappetizing texture. So how can we make ice cream with it?
The science here is easy! We’re adding orange juice to a mixture of milk, sugar, egg yolks, and heavy cream. The ice cream base has enough fat in it that the acidity from the orange juice can’t hurt it!
More Homemade Ice Cream Recipes
These fruity ice creams should be next on your list:
Our Favorite Ice Cream Making Tools:
- Cuisinart 2QT Ice Cream Maker – Works with ice cream, sorbets, and frozen yogurt.
- Ice Cream Scoop – Make sure you have a good ice cream scoop. This is one of our favorites.
- Ice Cream Containers – We love keeping a couple of ice cream containers on hand for when we make homemade ice cream.
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Orange Ice Cream
Ingredients
- 4 large egg yolks
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 cups whole milk
- 2 tablespoons orange zest from about 4 oranges
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 1/2 cups heavy cream
- 3/4 cup fresh orange juice from about 4 oranges
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Chill the ice cream bowl for at least 24 hours or until solid. You should not hear any water sloshing around when you shake the bowl. In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and granulated sugar until smooth and pale yellow in color.
- Add the milk and salt to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring the milk to a simmer and then remove from the heat. Be sure not to boil.
- Add about 1/2 cup of the hot milk to the egg and sugar mixture and whisk constantly until combined.
- Then, add the tempered egg mixture back into the saucepan with the remaining hot milk. Heat the saucepan on low. Stirring constantly, heat until the base has thickened enough to coat the back of a spoon. This should take a few minutes.
- Strain the mixture into a bowl to remove any pieces of egg that may have cooked. Then, add the heavy cream, orange juice, orange zest and vanilla extract and stir to combine. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap making sure to have the plastic wrap touching the surface of the ice cream base. This will help keep it from forming a skin while chilling. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
- Churn the ice cream mixture in the bowl of your ice cream machine according to your manufacturer’s instructions (mine took about 25 minutes), until it is thick and the consistency of soft-serve ice cream.
- Spoon the ice cream into a shallow container or a loaf pan. Press plastic wrap or wax paper to the surface of the ice cream. Freeze for at least 4 hours, or until solid.
- Let sit at room temperature for about 5 minutes before serving.
