Think vanilla ice cream with the delicate flavors of saffron, the sweetness of honey, and tender bits of orange.
The inspiration
A while back I had bought over six jars of honey from a local beekeeper and I had so much honey that it gave me the opportunity to get adventurous with them and I made a few jars of flavored honey. One of the flavors I made was tangerine flavored honey.
To make this flavored honey I submerged tangerine slices with saffron in a jar of honey. I then let the tangerine and saffron marinate for a few weeks.
At the end of four weeks the honey developed a wonderful saffron orange flavor, and here’s the best part! The orange slices had become nice and tender and honey sweet!
Now these sweet tangerine slices could be eaten on their own or cut up and had with Greek yogurt, but I decided to use the soft orange slices and the newly flavored honey to make an orange saffron honey ice cream.
The orange bits give the ice cream a slight bitterness that I think is very artisanal in flavor. Really a fabulous eclectic ice cream this is! Give it a try!
Plan ahead ice cream
Remember this requires that you actually plan ahead and make the tender orange honey saffron slices first. So go ahead and give making saffron orange flavored honey a try, and then use this delicious honey and the orange slices to make the ice cream later.
Honey Orange Saffron Ice Cream
Ingredients:
- 2 cups heavy cream
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup orange saffron honey
- Tender orange slices from the orange saffron honey – use as much as you want. I used 1/4 cup orange slices as I really like the sweet and slight bitterness of the rind.
- 1 tsp vanilla
Directions:
- Finely cut honey-saffron orange slices into small pieces.
- In a bowl whisk together cream, vanilla and 1/4 cup honey until smooth and creamy. Taste and see if you want it sweeter and add more honey to your liking. Whisk again to incorporate the honey into the cream.
- Add the orange pieces and mix-in.
- Pour the mixture into an ice cream maker.
- Once ice cream is thick and creamy transfer to a container and place in freezer.
- Serve orange saffron ice cream with drizzle of honey.
