Chocolate Fix: Chocolate Orange Ice Cream

It’s been a while since we had a chocolate fix—online, anyway. 🙂 You don’t really think I’d go without, do you? I’ve got some serious scrumptiousness lined up for you. I hope you’re not tired of ice cream yet. I’m not. I thought that when the temperatures started going down I’d crave something new (and warm!), but nooooooo … So I have to indulge in one more chilly, creamy confection before winter actually sets in, and then I’ll find something more suitable to the season to share with you.

Chocolate Orange Ice Cream

(modified from the recipe at Scoop Adventures)

Yield: about 1½ quarts

Chocolate-Orange Syrup


½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

½ cup sugar
½ cup water

2 teaspoons orange zest, freshly grated (one orange)
1/4 cup (2 ounces) fresh squeezed orange juice (1 orange)
1 ½ ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Ice Cream Base


2 cups whole milk

1 Tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon cornstarch

1½ ounces (3 Tablespoons) cream cheese, softened
1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup heavy cream
½ cup sugar

2 Tablespoons light corn syrup

Combine cocoa powder, water, sugar, orange zest, and orange juice in a small saucepan and place over medium low heat. Bring to a boil and stir until sugar melts and ingredients are combined. Remove pan from heat and add chocolate. Let stand for 5 minutes and then stir until chocolate is melted. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix 2 Tablespoons of the milk with the cornstarch. In a medium bowl, whisk the cream cheese, chocolate-orange syrup, and salt until smooth. Set aside.

Combine remaining milk, cream, sugar, and corn syrup in a medium pan. Bring milk mixture to a boil.  Cook over moderate heat until the sugar dissolves, about 4 minutes.

Remove from heat and off the heat, gradually whisk in the cornstarch mixture. Return to a boil and cook over moderately high heat until the mixture is slightly thickened (draw a line on a spoon), about one minute. Gradually pour the hot milk mixture into the cream cheese mixture and whisk until smooth. Place the bowl in an ice bath and stir occasionally until the mixture has cooled to room temperature. Cover and chill in the refrigerator for several hours or overnight.

Once chilled, strain mixture through a sieve to remove lumps of orange zest, then pour into an ice cream maker and freeze according to the manufacturer’s instructions. Place in refrigerator freezer until firm, about 4 hours.