This delicious ice cream confection is a Canadian classic, and almost impossible to find in the States. Making your own, with homemade licorice caramel and orange scented French vanilla ice- cream elevates this childhood favourite to new heights. Packed into a cone or piled into a bowl, it’s retro Canadian summer fun! Food colourings and extracts can be bought at most baking supply stores.
ingredients
Orange Ice Cream
Licorice Caramel
directions
In a medium bowl, lightly whisk together egg yolks and half of the sugar.
In a non-reactive saucepan combine the cream, 1 cup of the milk, the remaining sugar, and the salt.
Split the vanilla bean in half, lengthwise, to expose the tar-like seeds inside the pod. Scrape the seeds loose with a knife; add the bean and the seeds to the cream mixture.
Heat the cream over medium-high heat until just at a boil. Remove from the heat. Gradually pour the hot liquid into the yolks, while whisking constantly. Return the cream-egg mixture to the saucepan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring the mixture constantly, with a wooden spoon in a figure-8 motion, until thickened, about 10 minutes. When the ice cream mixture is properly cooked it should coat the back of a spoon, be satiny thick, and be free of any bubbles on the surface. When thickened, pour in the reserved milk to prevent the mixture from overcooking. Strain into a medium bowl. Add 4 or 5 teaspoons orange extract (to taste) and several drops of orange food colouring to achieve desired colour. Cover bowl and chill in refrigerator overnight.
In a non-reactive saucepan, mix sugar and water and heat over medium flame until mixture starts to boil, then reduce heat and let it simmer for at least another five minutes. Do not stir! Stirring will likely cause the sugar to crystalize and cook dry. Instead, gently swirl the saucepan, especially once the sugar mixture starts to thicken and begins to turn a light amber colour.
Once your caramel reaches a light amber colour, remove the pan from the heat. You don’t want a super developed, dark caramel flavour here as it will conflict slightly with the licorice flavour.
Stir in the cream; it is safe to stir the caramel at this point. It will bubble up quite a bit, so be prepared! Once the cream is incorporated stir in the butter. Stir in the anise extract and food colouring. (Hint: use the tip of a knife to get the food coloring from the little jar),
Transfer the licorice caramel to a mason jar and chill (along with your custard) overnight.
Assembly: Make your ice-cream according to your ice-cream maker’s directions. Do not over-churn as this will make the ice cream grainy, you want a soft-serve consistency.
Fill your containers about 1/3 full and drizzle with the licorice caramel, about 1 tablespoon for every cup of ice cream. Repeat twice. Place cream in the freezer for an hour or two to firm it up. When firm, scoop and enjoy!